The Rise of Demons
by KuyouFox
Summary: After having the Kyuubi sealed into Naruto, the Shinigami herself gets sucked in as well due to a mistake on Minato's fault. Wait, herself! Naruto/Harem Smart/Strong Naruto
1. First Meeting

**1/27/2013 Update:**

**This Chapter has been officially updated. Chapters Two and Three have also been redone. As a heads up, please excuse the poor writing of Chapters Four and Five as they haven't been updated yet and probably won't as they're not too bad but chapter Four has had the dialogue somewhat improved. Chapter Six is the most recent and actually up to par.**

**5/08/2013 Update:**

**As of right now I'm only going to be continuing this story as practice to better my writing as this was my first story to date. So please excuse the beginning chapters up till the sixth or so as they do contain several cliches that I'm not exactly proud about but I will try to make up for it with the advancement of my writing in the upcoming chapters. So if you could try to stomach these few chapters and get to where it is at currently it will be a lot easier to read and hopefully stomach.**

**Thank you for reading - if you continue to plan to - and have a good day.**

- "Regular Talking"

- '_Thoughts, Flashbacks and Mental Conversations'_

- "**Emotional / Demonic Voice"**

- Jutsu (And their Translations)

Chapter One -

The great village of Konohagakure (Village Hidden in the Leaves), was one of peace and of tranquility. Considered one of the strongest of the five Great Shinobi Villages also helped in that matter, yet for one child named Naruto Uzumaki the village could be better.

Much better.

Now, Naruto Uzumaki wasn't a bad kid for being twelve. He did all the things that any kid his age did, yet anything he did seemed to be ignored. It was only until recently that he began to get attention from the villagers once he entered the Shinobi Academy and it wasn't the sort of attention that any kid would want. Wherever he went he began to hear whispers of all sorts of nasty things about him, the most notable of those whisperings would be, 'The demon child shouldn't be able to train as a Shinobi.' Now, the villagers weren't exactly the smartest, but they knew when to be quiet about saying anything involving the so called 'demon child' lest the become an example of the law imposed by the Sandaime Hokage (Third Fire Shadow) to not speak a word about anything demon-related that could tie to the Kyuubi.

Those same whisperings then turned into small physical things, like a shove in the street or a trip when he was running on the ground.

That lasted until he was eleven.

From there, beatings would begin here and there. When he would fight back and even escape, the same villagers would come with their families in increasing numbers nearly every other week eventually getting to the point where two separate Anbu members had to be assigned to his protection from the shadows, Inu (Dog) and Neko (Cat). Now, they were two of the smartest and strongest of the Anbu, totally devoted to their work and to their charge so when he would get attacked, they would always intervene and save him from the villagers.

Those same villagers keep going at it, eventually becoming smarter, fiercer and even desperate as when Naruto became a genin they could be locked up -despite already being thrown into prison already- or even be charged with treason for trying to attack a working member of the Shinobi and Kunoichi ranks. And the punishment meant for treason was death.

So, they began to wait until one or both were out of the village with tip-offs from the Civilian part of the Konoha Council as the Shinobi clan heads were mainly neutral or for helping the boy.

One of those times was occurring right now.

"Gahh! Leave me alone!" Naruto yelled at the crowd that was currently chasing him through the streets. They seemed to be at every point that he attempted to jump onto the rooftops and they slowly began corralling him. Naruto's eyes darted from left to right, up and down, trying to desperately find one of his escapes that he used for pranking only to find the hold in the ground filled in, his smoke bomb trap disarmed. He was trapped and there was no getting around it.

The villagers slowly advanced, rage over the loved ones lost to this, this... _thing_! "Your time has finally come demon! But first," a man sadistically grinned, pulling out a rusty kunai, "I'll be enjoying this revenge for my dead son." He slowly approached the now frightened Naruto, taking the lead of the group, "You know, this kunai was my son's favorite ever since he was a genin. And you killed him when he valiantly defended the village! You will suffer!" the man hissed in rage, his eyes narrowing as he lunged towards Naruto. He quickly overpowered the struggling Naruto and stabbed him in the shoulder before the rest of the villagers joined in.

From there, it wasn't pretty in any way shape or form.

They were brutally efficient; breaking bones with blunts objects in one strike, hitting sensitive parts with their own limbs, peeling parts of his skin off with sharp objects. Within two minutes they had already critically injured him and was about to finish the so-called 'demon' off before an Anbu with a cat mask appeared in front of the man who led the charge earlier was about to finish what he had started. She swung her blade, decapitating him and took a lingering glance at Naruto, "Hang in there Naruto-kun, Neko-onee-chan is here to help you..." He whimpered once he heard her voice, barely conscious through the burning pain he felt from virtually every inch of his body.

Neko brought her masked gaze onto the villagers, "So what is going on right now? Beating an innocent child again?"

"He's not an innocent child, but a demon in disguise!" one of the men yelled in response, forgetting the Sandaime's law. Neko seemingly vanished in thin air, confusing the villagers before his own head rolled off of his neck, blood spurting into the air.

"You all are under arrest for child abuse, and for some of you, death for break the Sandaime's law. Resist and you will die regardless." Neko stated in a monotone voice despite the growing rage inside of her.

The villagers all looked at themselves before five of the biggest and brawniest walked up, "I don't think so little miss. Now, how about you go and leave us to finish our wor-" Neko whipped her sword across the five of them who stood almost shoulder to shoulder and left a deep gash across their chest. They would definitely not make by the time the night ended. The rest of the group dropped their weapons, already knowing escape was futile as they had tried it before on numerous occasions and failed each time.

Neko summoned two Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clone) and had one go to the Anbu headquarters to help take the villagers in. The other she left to watch over the group and make sure they stayed put. "If you so much as move an inch, I will make sure you join your fellow fallen friends in the afterlife." she hissed, her emotions finally breaking the emotional mask that all Anbu had. Neko briskly walked towards Naruto whispering words of consolement as she gingerly picked him up, "It'll be okay Naruto-kun, just hang in there and everything will be okay..." The purple haired Anbu woman vanished in a Shunshin (Body Flicker) to the hospital where Naruto had a healer specifically for him from Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage. She then went to the Hokage to report the incident officially.

**_XXX-XXX_**

Naruto's Mindscape, Sewers

Naruto opened his eyes, gasping for air. He gingerly brought his right arm up to his chest, half expecting it to be blood soaked but instead it was clean and the pain he was expecting was null and void. The blonde cautiously got up from a half flooded floor. Naruto was in a large cavernous room that slightly resembled the inside of a sewer, numerous pipes on the sides with blue chakra was flowing through and out of, actually knowing what it was due to Inu-onii-san and Neko-onee-chan teaching him the basics of chakra when they found out the teachers weren't as helpful with Naruto as the other children.

As his eyes took in everything while walking down the darkened sewer, he noticed a large gate door, easily the size of the sewer in length and width, with a single piece of paper on it with the Kanji for seal on it. As he was adjusting to his new surroundings his curious nature took hold and he slowly began the trek towards the gate, '_what could possible be on the other side that needs this big gate?'_

Inching closer and closer to the gate he began to hear distinctly feminine voices yet he couldn't pick them out, nor could he see past the first few feet of the inside cage. As he approached to the gate he could tell the voices belonged to two different women. "Well, it can't hurt to take a look and I can always rush out quickly if I need to." Naruto made up his mind and crossed into the darkened area past the gate. As soon as he passed in-between the gate bars he was became aware of two of the most beautiful women that he had ever seen before and the area lit up to more or less the same appearance as the outside, but with only slightly less water and less grimy in a way.

The first one was had bright smooth red hair that went down to the small of her back. Her face was heart shaped and had bright piercing red eyes that radiated warmth that you could easily lose yourself in easily enough. She wore a deep red kimono with small foxes, almost kits, that ran from her side towards her stomach, that showed all of her curves that went down to her lower thighs before stopping. It showed off an ample amount of her cleavage, a full D-cup, and her silky smooth legs that seemed to go for miles with a simple pair of sandals that adorned her feet.

The second one had slivery lustrous hair that seemed to naturally curve around at the middle of her back, her face a heart shape with a warm silver look to them that you could make anyone who stared into them feel weak in the knees. Wearing a silver kimono with black flames going around on it and went down slightly lower than her companion, showing off her hourglass figure and DD-cup. Her legs were silky smooth but also did not seem to trail downwards forever like the first woman's. She stood at around 5'8'' whereas the red-head stood at 5'10''.

Almost as soon as he crossed, their heads turned towards him, their eyes studying him carefully as they approached him. He noticed both of their eyes held a burning rage only it wasn't set towards him, but towards something else yet they also held a sort of warmth towards him for an unfathomable reason that Naruto could not figure out. "Hello, Naruto-kun." the silver haired one said with a smile on her face.

"Um, who are you and what is this place?" Naruto asked, somewhat wary of the approaching women.

The red-head seemed to hold a hint of sadness, "You're in your mindscape, or your inner mind, escaping the pain from the villagers did to you. And for who we are-" She looked towards the silver haired woman and grinned despite the other woman's sigh and shake of her head, "My name is Saiku, but I'm better known as the Kyuubi no Kitsune to you." The newly dubbed 'Saiku' pride fully said, her head held high.

Naruto looked at her in confusion. How could someone like her say she was the Kyuubi no Kitsune? Was there something wrong with her? "Um, how could you be the Kyuubi no Kitsune? It was killed twelve years ago and how could someone so pretty be something that's evil?" he asked, confused at her dejected look and laughter coming from the other woman.

"I told you that would happen if you did it like that Saiku-chan." she said with another shake of her head with a small smile growing on her face.

"Okay then Naruto-kun, stand back and I'll prove it. Just don't freak out." Saiku said, sighing that her 'friend' was right. Naruto complied, backing up towards the gate cautiously, "This is m**y true form."** Her form morphed, hazing out slightly. It turned into a small blood red fox at first, and then grew, several tails sprouting every growth spurt until she reached a good five-story height with nine red tails whipping around behind her. "**Believe me know Naruto-kun?**"

The blonde stared at her with his jaw hitting the floor at the fox nodding slowly at her as she morphed back to her human form. "O-okay... S-sooo... Who are y-you? The Shi-Shinigami?" he asked to the other woman, trying to make a small joke yet he didn't think so when he saw the look of shock run past her face, "W-wait, you're the Shinigami?!" She nodded a small smile growing on her face again, "Prove it!" Naruto exclaimed crossing his hands across his chest trying not to look at Saiku.

"As you wish Naruto-kun." She complied, creating an Oni Mask (Demon Mask) and setting it atop her face. When she just created the mask a feeling of dread and fear wafted across the room, filling it entirely with a coldness settling along with it. Putting on the mask multiplied that feeling almost tenfold, and a sight beheld him as he stared into the now entirely black eyes with silver flames flowing in them, that squeezed him, filling his entire being with fear and dread.

However, almost as soon as she put it on she took it off and briskly strode towards Naruto with Saiku trailing behind. The blonde was quivering with fear, feeling as if there was nothing good left in the world at all. His legs were rooted to the ground despite the feeling of every inch of his body screaming at him to run, he couldn't. She quickly brought him into an embrace, Saiku following her motion, wrapping her arms around him as well and whispered words on consolement and apology, "I'm sorry you had to feel that. I tried to hold back as far as I could despite my large limitations being in this seal. It isn't a power I normally show to mortals, I am sorry." Naruto slowly stopped shaking, warmth slowly filling him back up.

"S-so, wh-what is your name a-and what're y-you two d-doing here?" Naruto mumbled, trying to forget the feeling that she had created however unintentional it was.

She let out a small, small laugh despite feeling guilty for causing a breakdown in the blonde, "My name's Kanatsu." Kanatsu shared a look with Saiku, nodding at the important look they shared, "We'll tell you what happened when you've calmed down some." Naruto numbly nodded, enjoying the warmth of the two women even though one was the fabled Kyuubi no Kitsune and the other known as the Shinigami.

After a few minutes he finally calmed down enough to properly listen to the story they were going to say, "A-alright."

"Very well." Kanatsu nodded, "Do you know about the night where the Yondaime Hokage supposedly killed the Kyuubi no Kitsune, or as we know her, Saiku?" Naruto nodded slowly, "That is mostly a lie." When Kanatsu said that, she thought she would have to calm down an enraged Naruto but surprisingly, he didn't jump up in outrage but merely raised his head with a questioning expression on his face.

"That night I was ripped from my previous container, Kushina Uzumaki, and put under a strong Genjutsu that I couldn't fight off since I was still somewhat weakened after being released. The person who put me under the Genjutsu then ordered me to attack Konoha. I'm assuming that you know of the destruction that happened, so I'll just skip ahead to the part that you don't know. Your Yondaime teleported me away from the village but when he did the Genjutsu had already began to waver and I was trying to break free from it. By the time I did break it he had teleported away with a child that looked exactly like him despite a few differences. He had summoned the boss toad, Gamabunta, to hold me down for a few minor seconds. In those seconds he had managed to set up the requirements for a seal he would place on the baby along with another seal that would summon the Shinigami, or rather Kana-chan."Saiku let out a shaky sigh after she recounted her events of the fateful night that she was embarrassed and guilty about Kanatsu took over.

"After I was summoned, the Yondaime Hokage and his wife Kushina Uzumaki that he had brought to help him held down Saiku, used the Shiki Fuin (Corpse Demon Seal Exhaustion), sealing away a portion of Saiku's power and sealing Saiku inside of the baby. Now, here's where he had screwed up royally. After he had applied the Shiki Fuin he had overestimated the range of the Jutsu and sealed in me as well. The thing with this seal is that I help make it in conjunction with the user, so I always make it to be unbreakable from internal purposes, meaning once you start to get sucked in you cannot get out. He had assumed that I had just gone away so he put another seal on top of the Shiki Fuin known as Hakke no Fuin Shiki (Eight Trigrams Sealing Style). It further enhanced the seal making it harder to break, depending on the will of the recipient and also allows that same recipient to use the powers of the being(s) sealed inside of them. At the end of the night, I and Saiku-chan were sealed and the Yondaime Hokage and his wife were dead." Kanatsu explained, trying to make it somehwhat understandable for Naruto and it seemed that he had understood. The duo gave him some time to better take in the information.

Naruto widened his eyes after a minute of thinking about what really happened that day, he was that boy! Everything now made sense, why the villagers hated him, why he had no family. Despite those thoughts, he pushed them away only temporarily and asked another question he had in mind, "How did the seal break on Kushina in the first place?"

Saiku responded in a serious tone, "The man who put me under a Genjutsu did. Even though Kana-chan told you about how the seal could break, there is another way. The only way is for the woman to hold a demon and being pregnant. When the woman is in childbirth, her seal weakens to the point where it can be broken with outside help. That's what happened in this case." Naruto digested the information and began slowly piecing the information together:

A) The Yondaime Hokage and his wife was Kushina Uzumaki.

B) Kanatsu and Saiku were sealed inside of him when he was a baby that looked like the Yondaime Hokage.

C) The seal could only be broken in... Child... birth...

Naruto's eyes widened to cataclysmic proportions. If he was right then he could very well be the son of Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage! Saiku and Kanatsu both giggled slightly as they stared at his shocked expression. He just figured it out.

"A-A-Are m-my pa-parents K-Kushina and the Y-Yondaime Ho-Hokage?" Naruto stuttered out, his entire being taking another massive shock once again when Saiku nodded. Naruto, who was standing, plopped to the ground, shocked to his very core that his parents were such important people. He looked at Kanatsu and Saiku, his blue eyes begging, "Can you tell me about my par-parents, Saiku-chan, Kana-chan?"

Both Kanatsu and Saiku smiled genuinely, nodding at the same time with the two women telling him what they knew of the blonde's parents.

**_XXX-XXX_**

Yugao and Sarutobi Hiruzen, Hokage's Office

Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage of the great Konohagakure, was currently in his office musing about the village when one of the Anbu appeared via Shunshin in his office. He momentarily looked at the Anbu to find that it was Neko, one of Naruto's watchers. Instantly Sarutobi straightened, already knowing something was wrong with Naruto as neither Inu nor Neko would come to the Hokage often, only for either reporting a mission or about Naruto and Sarutobi knew that Neko had just came back from a mission as she had just reported it only minutes beforehand.

"Hokage-sama," Neko kneeled down in front of the desk that Sarutobi sat at, "I have apprehended a group of villagers that were set on making Naruto suffer then kill him. I arrived only moments before they attempted to kill him as they already put him in a critical state. Several of the villagers are now dead as they broke your Law and the rest are in Anbu headquarters waiting to either be imprisoned or killed. Naruto is currently in the hospital with his private doctor, Hirameki."

The Hokage frowned at the villager's blatant disrespect to another that lived in the same village. They would not stop trying to get Naruto and the Civilian Council kept getting them out secretly, but at least in three days he would be out of their clutches when the Genin Exams came around. "Thank you Neko for reporting this. Go to Naruto-kun and protect him until he's in the Academy for the Genin Exams."

Yugao inclined her head, "Very well Hokage-sama. May I go as Yugao?" Sarutobi nodded with a smile. "Thank you Hokage-sama."

"You are welcome Neko. Now go and watch Naruto until Inu can come in to relieve you." Sarutobi dismissed her, watching her Shunshin away.

_'Naruto-kun, I hope you don't hate me for not doing as much as I should have to stop this two years ago. Maybe then it would never have escalated this badly.'_

**_XXX-XXX_**

Naruto's Mindscape, Sewer

"Thank you for telling me about my parents." Naruto grinned at Saiku and Kanatsu, his grin looking rather vulpine that made Saiku squeal a little. Nothing wrong with liking something that looks fox-like...

Kanatsu smiled at him, "Of course Naruto-kun, although most of that came from Saiku-chan."

Naruto thought for a moment before asking, "Is there anything I can do to repay you? I mean, being in here all day everyday has got to suck!"Kanatsu and Saiku both looked momentarily shocked at the blonde offering to do anything to help repay them. Usually anyone with a being sealed inside of them would just take what they wanted with force with no disregard to the being itself.

"I've been thinking about the seal myself for a long time and I think that by taking a _small_ portion of the seal off, we can experience the outside world. There's also the possibility that we'd be able to come in and out of the seal as well but I doubt that could happen." Kanatsu said, watching Naruto cross the gates and look up at the seal. Both Saiku and Kanatsu strolled up to the gate and stopped, intent on seeing the results. The water began swirling around Naruto, picking him up and bringing him to the seal. Naruto looked nervously at the seal and grabbed a portion of the bottom right corner, ripping off a small portion that was no bigger than maybe 1/20th of the paper. Instantly the water began to become disturbed, dropped Naruto onto the roiling water that was now splashing against the rumbling walls. However, for Naruto, he didn't realize he was falling only aware of a burning sensation throughout his convulsing body.

Within a few minutes, the sensation had passed leaving the blonde passed out on the floor with mark on the back of his left shoulder, a curled up silver fox with ten tails with their tips red used as a blanket for itself. As the mark appeared on Naruto's shoulder, Kanatsu and Saiku both felt an itching sensation on their own left shoulders. They quickly took a look only to find the same mark Naruto had only slightly different. The fox was still the same, with the ten tails, only for Kanatsu the fox was black with silver tips and for Saiku the fox was red throughout with white tips.

Both of their eyes widened imperceptibly as they recognized the mark. The mark linked the trio for life!

"Well," Saiku dryly said, "I believe that taking off a portion of the seal had a very interesting side affect." She tried to lighten the mood, "But hey, at least it couldn't have been worse. I can already tell we can leave the seal, and we could've been bonded to someone a lot worse than Naruto-kun. Might as well make the most of our situation here and now." Kanatsu slowly nodded, agreeing with her friend. No reason to be hateful over a situation you had no control over, right?

"Let's hop out of the seal in a Henge (Transformation). We can't be freaking Naruto or anyone else out." Kanatsu said after thinking about it for a moment.

Saiku nodded before grinning, "Yeah, _too _fast." Saiku sighed, her friend was definitely a Kitsune (Fox) by heart, through and through.

**_XXX-XXX_**

Two Days Later (Night Time), Hospital Room

In the back of the hospital where Naruto's room was at, he was just beginning to stir. He opened his eyes and looked around noticing that he felt incredibly warm and that everything seemed sharper for some reason. The blonde saw a purple haired woman that somehow looked similar to him but for a reason he couldn't fathom. He then looked down to find there was a grey wolf curled up next to him on his right side along with a small white fox nestled in-between Naruto and the wolf.

The woman then began to awaken and the first thing she did after yawning was look at Naruto only to find that the Naruto she knew was... different than this one. This Naruto seemed to look older by a good two years. "Is that you Naruto-kun?"

"Yeah, who are you?" Naruto looked momentarily confused; his voice seemed to be deeper for some reason.

The woman leveled a hard gaze at him, "What two Anbu always saved you when the villagers attempted to beat you?"

"Inu-onii-san and Neko-onee-chan. Who _are_ you lady?" Naruto replied, asking the same question again.

She frowned. He answered the same way the younger Naruto would have. Maybe something happened with his tenant to make him grow older? The purple haired woman shrugged, the Hokage could help figure this one out. The Kage Bunshin she sent would make sure he came over soon though. "I'm surprised you don't recognize me Naruto-kun," she smiled at him, "After all, I did help save you a few times." Then it clicked in his head, this woman was Neko-onee-chan!

"Neko-onee-chan!" Naruto happily exclaimed.

"It's Yugao Uzuki Naruto-kun." Yugao chidded Naruto, "That's my codename for Anbu and I can't have everyone know it."

"Sorry Yugao-chan." Naruto apologized, forgetting the 'onee' part in her name unconsciously.

Yugao laughed a bit at him, "It's fine Naruto-kun. Hokage-sama is coming soon and you have some explaining to do about your appearance change along with the fox and wolf." Just at that moment there was a knocking on the door before it slid open to reveal Sarutobi in his typical Hokage robes and hat.

"Jiji!" Naruto greeted the person he considered to be his grandfather.

"Naruto-kun?" Sarutobi's voice thick with shock. How did Naruto look older? What is there both a fox and wolf right next to him, asleep? "What happened to you?"

Naruto looked somewhat sheepish, "Has Yugao-chan told you about what happened last night?"

Sarutobi's shock slowly faded only to reveal a teasing smile, "Oh, so now she's _Yugao-chan?_" He let out a laugh at the reddening face of Naruto, missing Yugao's own faint flushing. "Well Naruto-kun," Sarutobi's smile dropped and his expression grew serious, "She has told me about what happened, only it was two nights ago." At that point both the wolf yawned, whining slightly and opened its intelligent eyes. Both Sarutobi and Yugao stiffened as the wolf got up and looked towards Naruto. It opened its mouth and licked him across the face before hopping down onto the ground.

_'Naruto-kun, are these two trustworthy?'_ Kanatsu's voice rang in his head. His eyes darted around trying to find her. _'The wolf Naruto-kun, I'm __Henge__'d into the wolf.'_

"Oh, hey Kana-chan!" Naruto adressed the wolf. "They're trustworthy Kana-chan, just why are you a wolf?"

_'That way Saiku-chan and I did not frighten anyone who came into the room. She is the fox by the way.'_ Was Kanatsu's response before she morphed back into her human form. Sarutobi instantly had a kunai in his hand along with Yugao's nodachi drawn and ready to stike at a moment's notice. "Naruto-kun, who is this woman?" Sarutobi asked, his expression now turning hard, one that many knew as the face of the Kami no Shinobi (God of Shinobi).

"Oh, she's Kanatsu-chan." Naruto replied, "She's fine and really nice along with Saiku-chan!"

"Naruto-kun, who is Saiku?" Yugao asked, beginning to crouch down and attack the woman.

"Oh, she's the Kyuubi no Kitsune."

Both Yugao and Sarutobi dropped their respective weapons as a resulting -CLANG!- occured. Naruto knew the secret. Was this woman and the Kyuubi responsible for Naruto's new appearance? "Y-you know about the Kyuubi then?" Sarutobi hesitantly asked, still glancing warily towards the silver haired beauty that Naruto identified her as 'Kanatsu'.

"Yeah, why didn't you tell me earlier jiji?" Naruto asked, his face frowning.

"I'm guessing it's because he didn't want you thinking you were Saiku-chan. When you were younger you might have thought that Naruto-kun." Kanatsu answered his question.

Sarutobi glared at the woman, "And just who are you Kanatsu?"

Kanatsu just shrugged off the glare that could frighten so many others, "I am the Shinigami Sarutobi-san. Before you ask about my sanity, ask Naruto-kun. He can tell you himself that I am who I say I am."

"Is this true Naruto-kun?" Yugao asked, keeping her eyes locked on the woman. Naruto nodded once before looking at Kanatsu, Sarutobi and Yugao. Was this going to turn out to a fight?

"Yeah, she's the Shinigami. She was sealed into me along with Saiku-chan by tou-san." Naruto replied, trying to mollify the situation somewhat.

Sarutobi's shoulders fell and he turned around to make sure the door was locked. He activated the Privacy Seal in the room, "So you know who your parents are Naruto-kun?" Sarutobi's weary voice asked.

"Uh-huh. Saiku-chan told me about why she thought you didn't tell me. She said the reason was 'If you knew your dad was the yondaime hokage, I would have told everyone and eventually other Shinobi and Kunoichi would try to take me away or kill me'." Naruto said, his voice holding no negative emotions that Sarutobi thought he would have had.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun, but I don't really mind too much that your tou-san was Minato as much as, the Shinigami was also sealed inside of you?" Yugao curiously asked, finally lowering her guard but still ready to fight if the moment called for it.

Instead of Naruto, Kanatsu answered that question, "Yes, I was. It was a mistake on Minato's part but it's in the past and we can't change it."

"Very well, but how are you outside of the seal and if you were sealed how come no one came to save you?" Sarutobi asked inquisitively.

"Naruto-kun tore off about 1/20th of the seal to allow me and Saiku-chan some freedom. Before you ask, we did not force him to do so. He did it of his own free will." Kanatsu said, mollifying their fears that the two powerful entities were forcing him to release them. It didn't totally release that fear, but it was reduced, "As for why no one has sent any help, there are laws preventing other gods from trying to intervene in human matters. If they do intervene then the penalty is the loss of their powers and then death. I am the only exception to this rule as there is a summoning technique for me but you know the penalty is your soul. Since we live forever, there isn't much reason to lose our powers for something that will resolve itself within a century." She shrugged off the fact there would be no help easily enough. "Thankfully my job mostly does itself so we're fine in the regard."

"What about Naruto's rather quick physical change? He changed nearly overnight!" Yugao pressed on the subject, wanting to find the answer.

Kanatsu looked at Naruto who was uncommonly serious now, "I'm guessing with the discharge of the seal, it aged his body a few years and probably did a few other things that we'll find out soon enough later on."

Sarutobi shook his head at his surrogate grandson and playfully said, "You always do find a way to shock us all in some way. Now, since there's the Genin exams tomorrow I want you to get some sleep. You should easily pass the ninjutsu part since you know the Kage Bunshin from Kakashi showing you it." Sarutobi strolled up to Naruto and brought his arms around the blonde patting his back. "Sleep well Naruto-kun." With that, Sarutobi left his grandson to sleep.

"Goodbye Naruto-kun, sleep well." Yugao said, wrapping her arms around the blonde tightly flushing lightly at the contact and broke away with a lingering glance back at Naruto. She waved her hand once before using a Shunshin to go home.

Kanatsu shook her head lightly, smiling all the while before getting back into the bed with Naruto. Saiku then took this opportunity to wake up, her tongue lolling heavily on the side of her mouth as she yawned. _'What'd I miss?'_ she asked.

The Shinigami shook her head at her friend and sighed before grasping Naruto, falling asleep next to him. Naruto, his face red from the contact slowly calmed down, amused at Saiku trying to figure out what happened. He slowly closed his eyes feeling another set of arms on his body before falling asleep.

* * *

**So that was the newly updated Chapter One! Tell me your thoughts on it and remember, the next few chapters might not be the best so please excuse the roughness of them and just keep reading.**

**I'll see you all later! **

**-KuyouFox**


	2. The Genin Teams

**1/27/2013 Update: This chapter has been updated along with chapter three. **

Chapter Two – Genin Exams

Naruto squinted his eyes at the sunlight filtering down from the window. He realized with a start that today was the day for the Genin Exams. He attempted to get up only to feel something holding him down. Looking down he saw both Saiku and Kanatsu holding him in their sleep, their heads laying on his chest. Naruto blushed faintly knowing that they slept with him, but at least they were wearing clothes, albeit, their kimonos were slipping on the shoulders slightly giving a wider view of ... _'No! Bad Naruto! Stop staring!' _he mentally hit himself, _'Okay, how am I going to get up... And what am I supposed to wear? Oh,'_ Naruto noticed a pile of clothes for him to wear, '_I guess Jiji got me some clothes.'_

The blonde gazed at the sleeping pair and slowly shook them awake, "Kana-chan, Saiku-chan, wake up. I need to make it to the Genin Exams today!"

Kanatsu slowly roused herself, "Good morning Naruto-kun." She smiled at him.

"Good morning yourself Kana-chan." Naruto replied with a smile, "Could you help me wake up Saiku-chan? I don't exactly want to miss the Exams today."

The shinigami smiled lightly at her bonded, "I believe I can. Oh and Naruto, you seem to be thinking and acting older. Maybe the backlash from the seal mentally and physically aged you." _'Not to mention the linking.' _she mentally added. Thankfully enough Naruto didn't pay attention to her mental adding but he would have to learn eventually.

"Huh, I guess I am. Hey, wake up Saiku-chan or Kana-chan will use the Oni Mask on you." Naruto half-heartedly threatened Saiku to wake up. Suprisingly it worked and Saiku jumped out of bed almost immediately.

"That was mean!" Saiku grumbled at the soft giggles from Saiku and the laughing from Naruto.

"Well I want to make it to the exams today and you just kept sleeping on me!" Naruto retorted back.

Saiku grinned and he knew he should have said it differently, "Oh, and did you like the feeling of having two grown women sleeping with you?" She teased, making Naruto blush brightly. He got up, ignoring Saiku and went to his clothes that Sarutobi had left him. Naruto thought about where he would change and froze as it hit him. He'd have to change in front of Kanatsu and Saiku.

"Now then Saiku-chan, that's enough teasing. Let's let our bonded go ahead and change out of that hospital gown and into some real clothes." Kanatsu said, rapping Saiku upside the head lightly with a sheathed katana that poofed into existance.

Naruto smiled at Kanatsu thankfully before catching one word she said, Bonded. What did she mean exactly by that? "Oh my, I'm sorry I did not tell you earlier Naruto-kun." Kanatsu frowned, catching his thought process, "There was one other side affect of the seal's backlash. While you were unconscious I had thought about it and realized after me and Saiku determined that we were, for lack of a better word, bonded. It occured by our powers that were going to be slowly leaked into you rushed in all at once, aging you by a few years and linking us into bondmates. That's as best as I can understand it for now but if you would like a better explanation I can give you one later once I have had time to better think it through." Kanatsu explained and caught Naruto's saddened look. Are they forced to stay with him as long as he lives?

Saiku caught his thought and vehemently responded on it, "No Naru-kun, we're not _forced_ to be with you! We could be with anyone we wanted, it's just that this bond links us together in a strong way. It could also very well influence us to have feelings, but I already know that I care for you." She crossed the hospital room and brought his hands up to her chest, "It may not be love, but it _is_ strong feelings. I admired your strength not to give in when things got tough and how you always hold your head high. We'll be with you through your hardest and easiest moments in your life." She lightly kissed his cheek and sat back down on the bed.

The blonde smiled, rubbing his cheek slowly where Saiku pecked it, "Thank you for breaking that line of thought Saiku-chan. As long as it doesn't force you to be with me I'm fine with it. I mean, both of you have told me more of my family than I thought I would ever know and for that I'm grateful. Thank you Kana-chan, Saiku-chan." Naruto stated, thick emotions washed through his voice that they could easily figure out. Respect, gratefullness, possibly even _love._

Kanatsu nodded, "You don't have to be thankful that we're helping you, bonded. Like Saiku-chan said, we'll be with you through thick and thin. Now then, get dressed or do you want to take the Genin Exams like that?" she asked with a raised eyebrow at the sheepish blonde.

"Yeah, hurry up Naru-kun! I wanna terrorize-no, torture, no that's not right... What's the word I'm looking for...?" Saiku wondered aloud, much to the amusement of Kanatsu and the sweatdropping blonde.

Naruto quickly got dressed in the clothing Sarutobi had left him, black shinobi pants with a kunai pouch strapped to the right hip and a dark gray shirt. Overall, much better than the regular orange two-piece jumpsuit that he always wore.

"Wait Naruto-kun, there's something I want to give you." Kanatsu stopped the now dressed Naruto, "I want you to have this katana, Shi no Ibuki (Breath of the Dead). It is basically a brother sword in abilities at least to my own blade, Shisha no Katsuryoku-gen (Lifeblood of the Dead). I'll teach you its abilities but it will be some of the hardest abilities you will ever learn in your long life." Kanatsu said while Naruto studied the blade. The sheath itself was a pure black, almost like obsidian and the handle of the katana was black as well with three silver diamonds on both of the flat sides of the handle. He unsheathe the katana only slightly to reveal a gleaming blade that the sun reflected off of.

"How do you li-" Kanatsu was interrupted by Naruto giving her a tight bear hug, ignoring how good it felt Naruto released her. "Well, I guess you like it." she giggled out.

"Right, let's go!" Naruto exclaimed happily. The soon to be genin strapped Shi no Ibuki to his waist, inwardly thanking that he was now tall enough to do so, and exited via window with Saiku in her white fox form, Kanatsu in her wolf form trailing behind.

_**XXX-XXX**_

Iruka's Classroom, Shinobi Academy

"You two ready for the shocked and awestruck expressions?" Naruto chuckled out.

_'Of course I'm ready. There are some children though I'd like to beat the crap out of though...'_ Saiku prayed for any opportunity to do so.

Kanatsu did an uncharacteristic snort, _'You could beat them with just one finger. Wait until they do something inane to do so though.'_ she added. Naruto just face faulted when he heard Kanatsu agreeing with Saiku on that subject.

The blonde rolled his eyes when he heard Sakura and Ino fighting, "Ino-buta (Pig)! Get away from Sasuke-kun!"

"Or what forehead?!"

Naruto decided he had enough of the shouting and entered the classroom. Soon the whole class began staring at the blonde that look a lot like the deadlast, Naruto Uzumaki. The blonde looked to be around 5'5'' and maybe fourteen years old. His blonde hair went down to about his neck, had three whisker marks on either cheek and he was somewhat musceled with a fox and wolf companion, wearing a katana on the left side of his waist.

Kiba at that time decided to jump up and ask, "Are you related to Naruto?"

Naruto chuckled, "I am Naruto, Kiba." Naruto walked to the back of the classroom to take his spot, ignoring the odd looks he got from the rest of the class. _'Wow, I was really off in the head if I was attracted to Sakura. I wonder if it was just because I wanted attention?'_

_'Maybe, but you've got a visitor Naruto.'_ Saiku replied to his rhetorical question. Naruto looked up to see Sasuke staring at him, "Dobe," he acknowledged Naruto, "How'd you change and get the blade?"

Watching Sasuke, Naruto replied, "It was a growth spurt and I found the blade next to me when I woke up."

"Then give me the blade. You won't be able to properly use it unlike myself." Sasuke said, holdest himself in the highest manner.

"No." was Naruto's response before Iruke walked in.

Everyone quickly took their seats and quieted down for once, shocking Iruka. _'Wow, I didn't even have to do anything to make them be quiet. Maybe it's the Genin test they're going to go through.'_ The sensei quickly took roll, pausing on Naruto's name as he took in his new appearance. _'Well... he's unpredictable I guess.'_

"Today is an important day for you all since today is the exams to see if you're ready to become a genin for Konohagakure." As Iruka continued with his prep up speech, Naruto tuned him out and began scratching Saiku's ear and patting Kanatu's fur coat. '_Wow, that feels really good Naru-kun.' _Saiku almost purred. Kanatsu agreed in nearly the same exact way, the exception being her not purring.

Naruto mentally snickered at the thought of Kanatsu purring and he felt the same dread and fear feeling from her Oni Mask, yet it felt almost dulled in a way. _'Maybe a resistance to it from the bond.'_ Naruto chalked it up to. He then felt it crank up in power and shivered, _'You know the kids are going to start passing out soon right? That mask is terrifying...'_ Kanatsu sighed and put it away.

_'Never hint that I purr at all in any way, shape or form. Or you can begin feeling that feeling for a whole day.' _she cheekily said to him.

_'Don't get her maaaaaadd.'_ Saiku said in a singsong type type recieving almost the same treatment minus the mask, but the threat was that she would force her back into the seal and crank her mask up to full blast. Suffice to say, that was enough to get Saiku to quiet down.

Iruka at that point began to start passing out the tests. Iruka passed a test to Naruto with a smile, "Good luck on the test Naruto." Naruto nodded, thankful for the 'good luck' and began the test. Thankfully he had Saiku to help cheat off of by giving him answers to the ones he didn't know.

Who knew having a fox that had seen tests almost exact like this one could be so helpful?

_**XXX-XXX**_

Second Part of the Exams, Outside the Academy

Naruto did a few stretches before the second part of the exams outside while Iruka was inside on Kanatsu's suggestion. _'Stretching does make the muscles a bit more limber and flexible before a fight. I've seen it save lives before.'_

Sasuke at the point decided to walk up, "Dobe, I want to make a bet with you." Naruto looked somewhat interested at what Sasuke could be willing to bet, but it couldn't be anything good from a child that had everything given to him from the village in the hopes that he would stay and keep the Sharingan bloodline alive. Yeah, that plan would work in a cold day of hell. Any chance of power that was offered to him right now he would easily take, even if it meant trying to assassinate the Hokage.

"When the taijutsu spar comes, I want to face you. If I win I get to take your sword and take the wolf as the fox looks ugly to me." Saiku bristled with indignation and rage whereas Kanatsu looked affronted that she would willingly go with this _child_.

"What will I get if I win?" Naruto asked, mentally assuring Saiku and Kanatsu that he wouldn't risk either of them nor Shi no Ibuki.

"Name what you want then." Sasuke smirked. No way would anything this dobe ask for would be of anything valuable anyways.

Saiku instantly lit up like a Christmas tree, _'Naru-kun, take the bet and make him run around the village in nothing but his britches for the whole day, no skipping the crowds.'_

_'Are you sure Saiku-chan? I mean, I feel stronger but-'_

Kanatsu interrupted him,_ 'Naruto-kun, just go for it. I trust that you'll win.'_

Naruto's face lit up and he named his request, "You have to run around the the crowded areas of the village only in your underwear for the rest of the day."

Instantly all of the girls, minus one or two, all perked up and began begging the Uchiha to take the bet. Either way it was a win to them, they got to see their Uchiha in action or they got to see him running around in nothing but underwear.

"Fine then dobe." Sasuke agreed, holding his hand out to seal the deal.

Naruto shook his hand and smiled, "Good luck." By the time Sasuke was going to retort however, Iruka made his appearance known.

"Now that you have taken the written part of the exam, you're going to take the Taijutsu portion of the exam. How it's going to work is that I'm going to call out two people and they're going to spar with just Taijutsu until I call it or when one of the two cannot fight anymore." Iruka stated.

Naruto decided to get his and Sasuke's fight out of the way, "Iruka-sensei, can I fight Sasuke?"

Iruka merely nodded, already expecting Naruto to try something to fight Sasuke, "Very well."

"Are both of you ready?" Iruka asked when the pair and recieved two seperate answers of 'Yes'. "Hajime!"

Sasuke decided to start the fight off at full speed hoping to end it in one blow. _'This should knock him out fast enough.' _Just as Sasuke was about to strike Naruto with his fist cocked back at the last second Naruto moved to the side and rammed his fist into Sasuke's gut, picking him up off of the ground before falling back onto the ground trying to catch his breath. _'What the hell?! How did he even see me? He never saw me before!'_

While Sasuke was mentally raging, Naruto was marveling over his strength difference. _'Hey Kana-chan, how did I see him so clearly? I couldn't in the spars we've had before.'_

_'Haven't you noticed your eyesight to be sharper and everything to be clearer?'_ Kanatsu answered with a question that Naruto 'hmm'ed' about.

_'You're right, it is a lot clearer and I'm a bit stronger and faster too.' _Just as Sasuke caught his breath Naruto dashed towards him. The blond then finished it in three quick precise punches that he was working on just a few days before the villagers attacked. He threw a quick jab to Sasuke's face, a hook to the left of Sasuke's face and finally a right hook towards Sasuke's temple effectively knocking him out. He didn't even have an opportunity to react in time.

"Good fight, you t-... Naruto." Iruka shook his head.

"Thanks Iruka-sensei!" Naruto happily stated before waiting by the tree for the rest of the class to finish, nodding his head towards the few that congratulated him, mainly Shikamaru, Chouji, Kiba, Hinata who at least attempted before passing out from Naruto thanking her and Shino who was mainly quiet for most of the time. _'That was great Naru-kun!'_ Saiku yipped happily, _'The fangirls are still too shocked to respond and by the time they fully get it through their thick skulls, they'll be watching Sasuke run around in his underwear.' _she snickered.

_'Remind me to not get on your bad side for your pranks. If you just thought of that one in a few seconds without putting much thought into it, I'd hate to be on the recieving end of one of the well thought out ones.' _

_**XXX-XXX**_

Third Part of the Exams, Inside the Classroom

The rest of the second exam went with little difficulty, including the kunai and shuriken tossing which most if not all of the students had passed. Only few actually had high scores, those few being the clan heirs, Sakura Haruno and two others, Rei and Shinto Takashi. Overall, Naruto felt that on both parts of the physical portion he did fairly well.

_'Stop worrying Naruto-kun, you passed and that is all that matters.'_ Kanatsu sighed at the worrying blonde while they were walking back to their spot at the back of the classroom. They all then spotted Sasuke limping in.

_'Erm, did I really hurt him that badly?' _Naruto sheepishly asked Saiku and Kanatsu, watching Sasuke wincing and hissing in pain while touching his jaw and holding his stomach. It was honestly funny and he deserved it no doubt.

Kanatsu shook her head, _'Not that I know of. At worst you cracked his jaw and bruised gut, albeit you bruised him badly and he'll feel it in the morning along with his jaw aching for sure, he might just be milking the situation.'_

_'Naw, I think he's just in that much pain. Naru-kun cracked him HARD with his new strength.'_ came the deduction from Saiku. _'Besides,'_ she continued, _'You don't have to worry about any of the fangirls trying to come after you since they're either scared shitless of you or they're just thankful you made that bet with the Uchiha.'_

Naruto snickered aloud confusing several people around him including Shikamaru who gave him a confused look and mumbled, "Troublesome blonde..." The 'troublesome blonde' in this case just smirked before taking a wondering expression and deciding to voice his opinion.

"Hey Shikamaru, why do most of the Nara clan say 'troublesome' all the time?" he asked. Shikamaru adopted a thoughtful pose before shrugging and falling asleep leaving Naruto wondering about it. Did they all just think everything was too much work and decided to say troublesome and it stuck? Or maybe it was a genetic quirk that all the _men_ had, yet all the woman in the Nara clan abhored the word and the laziness that ensues with it? But before Naruto could ponder the conundrum that made the Nara's tick Iruka ended the break that the genin hopefuls had.

"Okay, so now you all have completed the second part of the genin exams. Now comes the third and last part, the ninjutsu portion." Iruka grinned at the students' expressions nearly laughing at seeing some of them. "For this last part, you'll be required to do a Bunshin (Clone), an accurate Henge (Transformation), and finally a Kawarimi (Substitution) with a log or with me for extra points. I want-" Naruto then began tuning Iruka out as the other students began trailing up one by one. He watched them either pass or fail with the occasional hopeful to go for the extra credit of Substituting with one of their classmates and back.

The blonde jerked out of his stupor when he felt Kiba smack his back, "Yo Naruto, don't tell me you're scared of this test?" he teased after seeing Naruto's blank expression for the most part.

He smirked back, "Of course not Kiba. I was just thinking on how badly you'd do on the test." Naruto shot back causing Kiba to growl at the boy.

"Inuzuka, Kiba!" Iruka called out, getting Kiba's attention.

"Just watch me ace this test dobe!" Kiba ferally grinned with Akamaru barking his agreement.

Soon enough, Kiba passed and sat back down next to Naruto. The two kept passing back and forth banter until finally it was Naruto's turn to go up.

"Uzumaki, Naruto!"

Giving Naruto a smirk Kiba smacked his back in a friendly manner, pointing towards his own Konoha Hitai-ate, "It's your turn dobe, don't disappoint now!"

"Be quiet you two troublesome loudmouthes." Shikamaru grumbled while Choji ironically made as much noise as the pair while munching on his bag of chips.

The sensei of the classroom motioned for Naruto to stand in front of the class, like all the others had done whereas the scarred chuunin stood across from Naruto, "Preform the Kawarimi with either the log next to me," Iruka pointed towards a log not five feet away from himself, "Or with me as I said beforehand."

Naruto nodded once, his eyes full of excitement, darting towards Kanatsu and Saiku who were sitting at his seat before going back towards Iruka. Molding his chakra he pushed it outwards, towards Iruka and switched positions with the chuunin in a poof of smoke and back again. Naruto mentally crowed, he finally managed to preform a Kawarimi without using any hand-signs on the test no less! As the sensei of the class and being a sort of psuedo brother to Naruto, Iruka had to congratulate him on being able to preform the Kawarimi perfectly even though the speed of utilizing it could be faster, "Very good Naruto!" Iruka praised the blonde, "No hand-signs and with me no less. Very nice, although you could stand to improve your speed on using it. Otherwise you did perfectly!" Naruto all but beamed from the praise his hardwork had brought him.

While Naruto was preoccupied with the test putting his full attention on it, Kanatsu looked towards Saiku frowning, '_Is this honestly the test to become a Genin?'_

_'It is, why?'_ Saiku asked, confused as to why Kanatsu would be asking about the test. It had been done for countless years in Konoha after all and it had sprouted many fine shinobi and kunoichi as a result from it. What was wrong with them learning three jutsu that could save their lives from life-threatening attacks?

_'It just seems a bit... easy to be perfectly honest.' _Saiku cocked her head to the side trying to think of it from Kanatsu's viewpoint,_ 'Think about it, these children are doing three different jutsu that I admit are important, but why aren't they required to at least do a C-rank jutsu as well? It seems somewhat redundant to be in a Shinobi Academy without learning anything offensive. See what I'm getting at?' _Kanatsu explained her position to Saiku. It did make perfect sense and made her wonder about why the academy was like that. Maybe it was because they didn't want to become like Kiri where the place was literally nicknamed, 'The Bloody Mist' from the academy killing. Or it could be that the academy became much too coddled and more of a playground than learning how to kill from the Civilian part of the Konoha Council complaining that their children were getting hurt far too much. After thinking about it, Saiku had to agree with Kanatu's intial observation.

It _was_ easier than what should be required for an Academy that was supposed to be teaching ninja.

Nodding, Iruka asked for the next part of the ninjutsu for Naruto to do, "Alright, do a Henge of the Sandaime Hokage." Naruto complied and made a cross-sign with his hands, poofing into smoke. When the smoke clear, a perfect copy of the Sandaime was standing where Naruto previously was, the hat, robes and grandfatherly expression all present. "Very good... Now I want you to do a working Bunshin." Iruka mumbled out, writing the score down.

The blonde smiled and put his hands into the same cross-sign as he did for the Henge, only this time instead of Naruto poofing into smoke or even staying silent he confidently uttered, "Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clone)!" Several poofs of smoke went off near Naruto. When they all cleared it left a working copy of him that were all grinning or giving each other high-fives for being able to 'hopefully' pass.

Off to the side, Iruka was utterly flabbergasted. Naruto actually did a Jounin level kinjutsu that could _KILL_ anything with under at least mid-chuunin chakra levels and he had created several of them. The best part for the scarred chuunin was the fact that he did not even look partially winded! After a few moments he found his voice, "W-Wow. How did you manage to do that jutsu Naruto? It requires at least mid-chuunin chakra reserves for just _ONE_ Kage Bunshin." Naruto just sheepishly rubbed the back of his head letting the Kage Bunshin dispell. "Good job Naruto. Go sit down."

He complied with Iruka and walked back to his seat where Saiku and Kanatsu were waiting for him. _'Well Naruto-kun, with your performance today you are definitely becomming a genin. Congratulations.'_ the Shinigami eye-smiled at him, her voice full of pride. It wasn't anyday a container to two powerful beings became a Genin. Yep, definitely not an everyday occurance.

_'Naru-kun,_' Saiku giggled, _'I think you broke some of them.' _The fox yipped happily, running up to his shoulder rubbing her head onto his cheek. Naruto looked mainly because he didn't truly believe that and he was wrong. There was over half the class in total shock over his performance, the other barely reigning in their shock either to begin congratulating Naruto much to his own shock.

"Wow, didn't know the dobe had it in him!" Kiba brasenly shouted.

"Good job *munch munch* Naruto-san. You really did *munch* good." Choji nodded towards the blonde while eating his chips.

Shikamaru actually lifted his head off of the table and put his full attention onto Naruto, "I'll say it and I doubt I'll stop saying it you are one unpredictable person Naruto." He went back to sleep but not before mumbling another, 'troublesome...' following the process of laying his head down.

The normally stoic Aburame heir, Shino, acknowledged Naruto by nodding his head once in his direction and two said two words before turning his attention back to himself, "Impressive work."

Hinata mumbled over her words while tapping her two index fingers together in a shy manner, nearly passing out in the process, "G-G-Go-od j-job N-Na-Naruto-k-kun."

All that and more was said to the now favorable blonde. Maybe some were scared of Naruto, like the fangirls for the most part. Maybe others just wanted to be on his good side as the winds of the upcoming strongest genin were beginning to shift and they wanted to follow them. But the rest of the class was impressed that the so called 'Deadlast' could out preform them so much. Maybe he wasn't as bad as all the civilian adults had said. Of course, there were several that met his eyes with disdain in their own, but that was honestly the minority of the class, being mainly fangirls and a few jealous of him.

Otherwise, it felt good to Naruto to hear the praise from so many people at once despite being on somewhat neutral ground with most except for the clan heirs, who he was on friendly terms with for the most part.

"Alright everyone, calm down!" Iruka shouted over the class noise. It slowly quieted down enough for him to begin announcing the names of the people who would pass and recieve a Konoha Hitai-ate. "When I call your name, come down and recieve your headband. Once you get it, you're free to leave but you're supposed to come here again tomorrow to be placed into your Genin teams along with your Jounin sensei."

_**XXX-XXX**_

Jounin Meeting, Hokage Tower

In a large circular room, most of the Jounin were gathered. They were all seperated into two seperate lines facing each other with the Hokage at the head of them all. "Now that all the Jounin are here, we have two things we need to go over. The first being the genin teams." The old Hokage said, getting all of the attention in the room, "As of right now the passing genin as as follows, Shino Aburame, Chouji Akimichi, Sakura Haruno, Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka, Shikamaru Nara, Rei Takashi, Shinto Takashi, Mai Kurosake, Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki and Ino Yamanaka." The names -plus more- were all met with some amount of approval, some more than others. Naruto and Sasuke's were met with some of the higher as most had all seen the Genin Exams that wanted to become a Jounin Sensei. _'You're finally being able to change some of their opinions of your Naruto-kun. Keep up the work.'_ Sarutobi mentally smiled.

Naruto's performance from the absolute deadlast into a position ready for Rookie of the Year and Sasuke Uchiha, the last Uchiha who actually had good skill yet didn't get to display most of it as he had from earlier in the year. Some like Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno for example, were a bit of a laughingstock with a portion of the Jounin that knew about the fangirls and personally felt bad for the Jounin that got them.

Once the noise had quieted down Sarutobi began once again, "I have been pondering the teams and so I have figured out a good composition for each team's skill set." He goes on to name several teams before getting to the ones that everyone wanted, the clan heirs and civilian favorites, "There is the Ino-Shika-Cho team involving Cho Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara and Ino Yamanaka." Suprisingly, very few Jounin wanted the traditional Konoha team. Asuma Sarutobi being the more experienced of the Jounin got the team.

"Next on the list for the teams we have a tracking team comprised of Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuuga and Kiba Inuzuka." Kurenai was by far the most vocal about having this team. She knew Hinata, having taught her to regain some of her confidence. Despite only knowing one of the team, she knew that with time she could learn the rest of them. Not only that, her genjutsu prowess would only help enhance the team's capabilities so naturally, she got the team.

Sarutobi nodded towards Kurenai and continued with the teams, "Now we have Sakura Haruno, Mai Kurosake and Sasuke Uchiha. Wait a moment," The old Hokage raised his hand, staying the upcoming talk to see who would get his team, "Normally I would let you all choose but this year, this team was already prechosen by the council as is one of their rights. Kakashi Hatake, you will be the sensei of this team as you will be able to fully teach all three adequetly enough." The gravity defying grey-haired Jounin felt his heart drop a few stones. He had wanted Naruto to be taught by him that way he could easily give him his father's techniques as Minato himself had told his student that if anything happened to him and Kushina he wanted Kakashi to teach Naruto them.

But, one could not deny what both the council and the Hokage both say. What they say is law, and anything against that could and most likely _would_ be met with severe consequences. So, he just nodded slowly and went back to reading his Icha-Icha book already reconsieling with himself that he could pass the techniques to Naruto via scroll. Sarutobi frowned, being one of the few to noticed past the Jounin's poker face to see the drop in happiness that he had brought in with him. _'I am sorry Kakashi-kun but the council is how it is.'_

"For the finaly team, we have Rei and Shinto Takashi along with Naruto Uzumaki." Now that most of the teams had been gone over, that was the last team. And it was a mad scramble for those who wanted a team to get it.

Anko Mitarashi, a newly promoted Jounin from Tokubetsu Jounin (Special Jounin), was quiet for most of the sorting. Now was the time she spoke up for the team she wanted, and by god if she wanted it she would damn well take it by its balls and drag it away. "I'll take the team Hokage-sama!" she loudly proclaimed. Everyone got quiet, some even wanting to say something but catching a glare from Anko made them quickly shut their half-opened mouth. Sarutobi chuckled at her glares, "Very well. I don't want anyone dissatisfied with the teams as there is always another year to become a Jounin Sensei. For the second bit of news we must go over..." His wrinkled face grew somber then cold like ice as if he hated the fact of admitting what he was going to admit but was going to correct it, "We have discovered a traitor in the village, Mizuki a teacher from the Shinobi Academy. He was seen numerous times scoping out the Hokage Tower, the guard patrol, scoping out the Forbidden Jutsu Scroll and even writing down the numbers of our forces, where our new outposts are at including the more... hidden of them."

The room was shocked silent and Sarutobi plowed forward, "He will be making a move tonight to leave with the Forbidden Jutsu Scroll along with his notes on our village. Tonight, I want you all to be on high alert just as a precaution if he gets past our first few lines of traps and defenses." He let the news sink for a few minutes into the Jounin before giving them a dismissal, having Anko stay behind.

"What's up Hokage-sama?" Anko asked, confused as to why she was held back.

Sarutobi let out a chuckle despite the previous tense atmosphere, "You do realize you don't need to call me Hokage-sama when we're alone, right?" he asked, the purple haired Jounin smirking back at him.

"I do, but it's always funner to try to get under your skin since you hate the formalities."

He rolled his eyes before growing serious, "Anko-chan, this is about your new student, Naruto." Her body stiffened up straight, doubts running through her mind. Would she still keep him? He was the only reason she really wanted him on the team as his own mother, Kushina Uzumaki, had taught her as a Sensei before she became an apprentice with Orochimaru, "Don't worry, it's nothing about him leaving the team. It's more about his... 'package', you could call it?" he insinuated towards her. She instantly caught it and understood, relaying it with a nod.

"I won't reveal much, but know this: _It is not the only thing sealed inside of him, and the companions he has are not to be toyed with._" he whispered the last part in a serious tone, shocking Anko more with the words than the tone. "He may reveal it to you in time along with his teammates but do not push for it, alright?" the old Hokage asked with his face lightening up as the seriousness began to ebb and fall down.

"Yeah, sure Hokage-sama. So basically, don't overly piss him off too far and don't go after his companions right?" Sarutobi sweatdropped at her explanation but went with it as it worked well enough. "Alright, if that's over then I'm out! Ja ne, Hokage-san!"

**And that would be the Second Chapter edited. Maybe a bit lackluster but hopefully compared to the original it's at least somewhat better. So what changed, the Jounin meeting although it was the same in a way, Naruto and the children of the classroom's overall moods shifting to something good and the Hokage not telling Anko all about Naruto Saiku and Kanatsu.**

**Tell me your thoughts on it and I hope you have a fair day.**

**-KuyouFox**


	3. Genin Test, Anko Style

**1/31/2013 Update: This chapter has been rewritten, but like the previous two chapters, follows the same storyline just better is all (hopefully.)**

Chapter Three – Genin Test, Anko Style

"Ughh, did you have really have to wake me up that early Kana-chan?" Naruto irritably grumbled as the bonded trio amiably walked through the early morning streets of Konoha.

The wolf huffed, looking at Naruto with a disapproving glance, _'Maybe it's because you now Jigoku no Honō (Blaze of Hell) strapped to your back from Saiku-chan?'_ Naruto sighed and looked towards Saiku... who was asleep. What the hell?!

_'Okay, good point. Saiku-chan,'_ Kanatsu grinned, showing her canines towards the now half-awake Saiku, freaking her out when she looked at Kanatsu, _'No sleeping when Naruto is denied it as well. Sleep later on today while we're waiting for Naruto-kun's sensei.'_ Saiku yawned once and nodded before lazily sitting on Naruto's shoulder. The newly made genin smiled at the pair, remembering the morning when he had gotten another incredible blade from one of his bonded while walking towards the Academy slowly.

_**XXX-XXX**_

Flashback - One Hour Ago (6:00 A.m.), Naruto's Apartment

"Naru-kun!" A voice called out the still half-asleep bonde's name, shaking him periodically as well, "Wake up Naru-kun! I have a present for you!" Naruto's eyes finally focused and saw it was Saiku who was shaking him awake.

"What?" His voice thick and slow from barely awakening. The genin turned his head towards Kanatsu who was asleep still. Then he decided to check the time, only to discover it wasn't even daybreak yet being 6:00 a.m. exactly. "Saiku-chan, w-why are you waking me up so easly?" he yawned out, finding no use in arguing with her at six in the morning.

The Kyuubi frowned at his lack of interest, "Naru-kuuun!" she pouted, somehow managing to find a childish side despite her being hundreds, if not thousands of years old, "I have a present for you and I couldn't sleep."

Naruto couldn't help but smile at her, "Alright Saiku-chan, I'll get up. Just give me a minute to get dressed." Saiku's eyes glinted and took a seat on the edge of the bed.

A few minutes passed until Naruto was fully dressed, trying not to give Saiku a show in the process. "Alright, so I'm dressed. Let's walk out of the room b-before Kana-chan wakes up." he yawned once again.

With her eyes sparkling with glee she pulled him into the living room of the small apartment he lived in, "Okay Naru-kun, close your eyes and keep them closed until I tell you to open them." she warned him. He chuckled but complied with her wishes.

*Poof*

As soon as he heard the unmistakeable sound of something being unsealed, he felt a warmth permeate throughout the room dispelling any of the early, early morning chill. "Hold out your hands." He once again followed her command only now he stagged, nearly falling with the sudden and incredibly heavy weight in his hands that felt oddly like a handle to a rather large blade. Saiku nervously chuckled and helped him with the weight. "Eh-heh, open your eyes Naru-kun..." The sight that beheld him shocked him to no end.

It was a large zanbatou like blade, but it looked to be like a mixture of two seperate metals and fused together. It was flat on one side, being the side with a black metal and the edge of the sword having an odd red metal that took the majority of the actual blade not including the hilt. The red metal itself seemed to both radiate warmth and also appear to have a slight haze to it making it appear hotter to the touch than it actually was, almost like a sun reflecting off of the sand in the desert in a way. He then turned him attention to the hilt itself and saw the handle was curved around with sharp spikes resembling a ridge on the outside curve of the handle, mostly to guard from anyone, or thing, trying to take the zanbatou.

Kanatsu's voice brought him out of his scrutinous gaze, "... Do you like it Naru-kun?" she asked, trying to keep her emotions in check. He could only nod dumbly at her, still shocked at the incredible weapon. The Kyuubi grew a fatally large grin and hugged Naruto who could only _barely_ shift the blade so that it wouldn't cut her.

Once Naruto finally found his voice he spoke in a grateful tone that made her feel happy for her decision to give him the weapon, "T-Thank you Saiku-chan. You didn't have to do this for me of all peop-" His eyes widened as she covered his mouth with her own, effectively shutting him up before releasing him from the slow chaste kiss. Guess she didn't like him acting like that.

"Yes I did Naru-kun. Besides," Saiku drew closer to him, "I can't let Kana-chan be the only one of the two of us give you an awesome weapon like Shi no Ibuki without me giving you that zanbatou, Jigoku no Honō."

Kanatsu chose that time to pop her head around the corner, her mouth already carrying words before she realized that Saiku was giving Naruto his gift, "Keep it down while people are trying to slee-" Saiku quickly jumped back, Naruto falling down with the sudden weight of the blade onto its flat side. The Shinigami's eyes widened, "Oh, sorry Saiku-chan, Naruto-kun. I just-"

"Ahh, it's fine Kana-chan. Saiku just gave me this awesome zanbatou and a kiss!" Naruto unabashedly said, his face flushing a bit when he said 'kiss'. Kanatsu gave a small light laugh and looked towards Saiku with apologetic eyes that she caught. Saiku nodded with a mouthed, 'It's okay.' Even though she wanted to be in Naruto's arms for a while longer, it could wait for a while.

"Since we're now all awake, let's get some breakfast already." Naruto suggested with a smile on his face that both of the goddesses had to nod and smile in return to.

**_XXX-XXX_**

Flashback End, Shinobi Academy

_'Naru-kun!' _Saiku mentally shouted at the blonde who had been remembering when he got the sword, '_We're nearly at the Academy and it's time for the team selections in maybe ten minutes!'_

He nodded to Saiku, scratching her behind the ear. "Thanks for reminding me Saiku-chan. Oh, and thanks again for telling me who to stick Jigoku no Honō onto my back." Rubbing the back of his head he sheepishly smiled.

Saiku half-purred out, _'N-No problem Naru-kun, i-it was Kana-chan's idea... Ahhhh, keep scratching right there.'_ The method Naruto was thanking her about was the fact of Jigoku no Honō's unique metal composition, a user could adjust its weight depending on the user's inner energies such as chakra and yokai for example. When Saiku first gave it to Naruto, she had it unconsciously on low weight for _her _so when Naruto naturally tried to pick it up it was a bit too heavy for him to pick up. In all actuality, Saiku didn't even notice the blade's weight at all so when Kanatsu commented on it the fact then became known. So Naruto had channeled his chakra and put in a low amount then shut off his chakra flow to the weapon. The weight decreased significantly till it was still a hefty weight, but he could at least swing the large weapon without nearly tearing his muscles in the process of trying to pick it up.

_'It is a good blade and I'm glad you are able to use it Naruto-kun. It would be incredibly useful for an open area with multiple foes facing against you whereas Shi no Ibuki is best for a one on one fight.'_ Kanatsu gave her opinion, ignoring the fact that Saiku had given her credit.

Naruto however praised her for it, "Kana-chan, it was a good observation. Thank you," he thanked her, totally missing the unnoticably faint reddening of her fur near her muzzle, "For that. Now at least I can pick it up without having to go to the hospital for my muscles ripped." The blonde genin cheekily added only to recieve a claw mark on his cheek, courtesy of Saiku.

_'Not my fault for not noticing that fact of Jigoku no Honō.'_

_**XXX-XXX**_

"Ah, just in time Naruto. Take a seat," Iruka said to the blonde genin who had just walked into the classroom. Naruto nodded and strolled over to his spot at the back of the classroom with Kanatsu padding behind him, Saiku now asleep wrapped around his neck, ignoring the different looks he had gotten consisting of, but not limited to, jealousy, a calcuating look, admiration and fear. It seems that most of the class was just following the bandwagon of clan heirs yesterday, but Naruto would show them otherwise that his performance yesterday would only be the tip of the iceburg. At least Kanatsu had the forethought to have Saiku hide the zanbatou away lest anyone try something inane around it.

From that point once Naruto sat down, the scarred sensei began a speech, "I know it's been a long four years being in the Shinobi Academy, but you all have the potential to become incredible Shinobi and Kunoichi for this village of ours. It has been a pleasure teaching all of you and I sincerly hope that you forge your own path and become the best you can in whatever you do." Iruka finished with a wide smile on his face as the class broke into cheers. He let them go on for a few minutes before holding a hand up for them to quiet down.

"Now that my rather lackluster speech is over with, here are your teams:

"Team 1: -" Naruto mindlessly listened to Iruka say the team names until he got towards Team 7 and onwards.

"Team 7: Your sensei will be Kakashi Hatake, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno and Mai Kurosake."

"Team 8: Your sensei will be Kurenai Yuhi, Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame."

"Team 10: Your sensei will be Asuma Sarutobi, Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi and Ino Yamanaka."

"And finally, Team 11: Your sensei will be *shiver* Anko Mitarashi, Naruto Uzumaki, Shinto and Rei Takashi. Have a good day everyone and your Jounin Sensei will be here in a few minutes!" Iruka left with a wave goodbye, a wide, prideful expression spread across his face.

Almost immediately after the scarred Chuunin left, the class erupted into chatter. Some Genin were cheering at getting a cool sensei along with good partners whereas others were crying anime tears at the fact of not getting a team with their Sasuke or terror over their jounin instructor.

At this point, Naruto felt honestly grateful. His two teammates were slightly discriminated against due to their father's treason for selling out village secrets, being executed the day it was found out. They would have had it easier had they had just one parent left but their mother had committed Seppuku since she could not live with the fact that her life was crashing down around her, leaving her children alone with only each other to rely on. After that, Naruto had felt a sort of kinship towards them and made efforts to become friends with them. After both sides knew they wouldn't hurt each other they became friends. Yet all the musing and chatter stopped when all of the Jounin Sensei strolled into the room and began calling out their respective teams.

One of the Jounin lead off with, "Team 2 come with me."

"Team 8 come with me." A Jounin known as Kurenai Yuhi the Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha said getting the attention of her team.

"Team 10, you're with me." Asuma Sarutobi had said with a look to Shikamaru that spoke levels of trouble if the world troublesome was said.

A purple haired Jounin then popped out of a smoke cloud and fingered a kunai, "Team 11!" she ferally grinned, "Meet me near training ground 44!" With that, she disappeared in a swirl of green leaves leaving behind her team and the rest of the Jounin giving the three genin, who were all dreading the fact that they had to go to the Foest of Death, pitying looks. If their test was out there then they were in for one rough, rough day.

_'Naruto-kun, since this is will most likely turn into a test for you why don't Saiku-chan and I go into the seal while you finish the meeting?' _Kanatsu suggested. Naruto turned around to the wolf, seemed to think about it for a few moments before nodding.

_'Yeah, if you could do that it would be helpful. It'd be a good test of where my skills are at right now,'_ Naruto smiled at the pair before mentally adding, _'Maybe outside though if you could. It might freak out everyone here if they saw you two just disappear in smoke.'_ They both nodded at him. Besides, even though they were going back into the seal it still would be interesting enough to see how Naruto deals with the situation without them being there.

Naruto took the initiative, "Let's get over there then. Waiting won't do us any good, but maybe be careful. She's one of the, if not THE best T&I interrogator there is." Both Shinto and Rei nodded gratefully. It was always useful to have information when going to a place you don't know to a person you don't know.

The trio proceeded to jump through the window and out onto the ground before going at a steady running pace to reach the Forest of Death within five minutes if they didn't slow or speed up. Naruto took the opportunity to actually take a look at the pair, as he hadn't for a while despite being in the same class.

Shinto was starting to grow into the bulky type body, with huge muscles that looked like it could pack a punch worthy of the Raikage himself. He wore simple red cargo shorts and a white t-shirt. His hair was a shade mousy brown with black eyes that seemed to have no end to them. Hell, even his chakra coils seemed to be huge from what Saiku and Kanatsu could sense before they would go back into the seal. A very imposing character at 5'2'' at his 12th year of being alive.

His sister on the other hand was the exact opposite. '_Thank god for that,' _Naruto thought, making Kanatsu and Saiku both laugh lightly at that once they discovered what he was thinking about.

She had a slowly developing body, and fair skin yet you could tell she put more effort into training than personal appearances if by going by the slightly muscled frame she had with little to no fat on her. With vibrant red hair and deep forest green eyes that you could lose yourself in she wore a simple kimono that was made for battle that was pure white, with black flames spreading around the hem and sleeves, much like Kanatsu's. Unlike her brother, her chakra coils were not massive, but still a decent size for a newly made genin meaning she probably had fairly decent control over it.

All in all, a dangerous pair the duo made.

"So Naruto, how you been?" Shinto made to break the silence after Saiku and Kanatsu poofed into smoke. The bother and sister duo both looked confused at Naruto but held their peace. Everyone did have their own secrets, Naruto being no exception to that statement.

The other male member of the group answered with a friendly smile, "I've been doing good, in fact nearly better than ever. How about you two?"

"We've been doi-" Rei began, but was cut off by Naruto.

"Jump to the ground, now!" He warned the rest of the team and jumped down from the trees they had been traversing, only a sparse thirty seconds away from the entrance to the Forest of Death. Thankfully they both had listened and followed the blonde's lead otherwise they'd have been nailed by several kunai that were now buried deeply into the bark of the tree.

Rei nodded her thanks as Shinto swore loudly, "Goddamnit! Show your damn self already!" After he said that, he felt the cold hard steel of a kunai being pressed to his jugular.

"You are by far, a loudmouth. As of right now without Naruto you two would have died within seconds of the first kunai volley." The purple haired Jounin hissed out, freaking out Shinto and Rei. She turned towards Naruto with a smile on her face and released Shinto, "Foxy-kun! Good to see you again!" Anko greeted him in a cheerful way, totally ignoring the astounded and confused looks of Shinto and Rei. How the hell did she change emotions so quickly?! "By the way, good idea to jump down to the ground as there were several more traps ahead that you'd have tripped. But, bad idea not to keep moving. You have virtually no view over the tops of the trees where the enemy-nin would be at."

Nodding, Naruto had to agree with her logic, "Yeah, I'll remember that in the future. So, should I call you Anko-sensei now, Anko-chan?" He asked her.

"Hmm, only if I get to hold you down and have my way with you..." she teased him. He hoped she was at least teasing him. If only he could've read her thoughts at that moment in time, _'Damn Foxy-kun, just last week you were a loudmouthed brat, but now you look to be maybe sixteen and you're WAY more attractive... Not to mention more mature. Maybe I should play around with him, and if he agrees maybe it can be beneficial...'_

"Erm... I'll just call you Anko-chan then..." Naruto nervously stated, inwardly thinking something else. _'Why must she tease me so?! She seems so much cuter than before to me now and I don't think I'd really mind if she DID try to do something like that to me...'_

_**XXX-XXX**_

Saiku and Kanatsu, Inside Naruto's Seal

Inside the seal Kanatsu and Saiku were both wide eyed at his declaration. "... Maybe we should start making room in a larger bed..." Saiku perverously stated, blood trickling down her nose before Kanatsu rapped her on the head with a sheathed katana.

"*Sigh* Well in any case, we could work on something to mimic our bond to affect other women if they're willing to take the seal. Knowing the village council and Naruto's love for the village despite the people in it, the CRA will eventually affect him so we might have women close to Naruto for who he is rather than random women that those old _councilers_ would chose for our Naruto-kun." Kanatsu thoughtfull said, almost spitting out the word councilers as if it was a part of the scum of the planet.

Saiku noddedly sagely, still leaking drops of blood every few seconds along with a giggle every once in a while. The Shinigami sighed for her friend. She definitely was a jack of all trades, in this case, emotions...

_**XXX-XXX**_

Naruto, Shinto, Rei and Anko, Outside the Forest of Death

Brother and sister both shook their heads and sighed at the other two members of their team. Could the team get anymore dysfunctional with a famous T&I torturer and a blonde genin who has the propensity for mind blowing pranks?

"Alright," Anko sadistically grinned when she heard the sighs, "Now the time for playtime is over. We'll get to 'know' each other somewhat better by saying your names, dislikes, likes and dreams. Muscle boy, you first." She motioned lazily towards Shinto whose eyebrow twitched uncomfortably.

"My name is Shinto Takashi, NOT Muscle boy!" Shinto barked at Anko who just shrugged. At least she found out something to infuriate him, "My likes are my sister Rei-chan," he gave her a friendly look "Dango, and my friend Naruto. My dislikes are perverts and arrogant pricks with sticks shoved up their asses. My dream is to live well enough and have a good life with a big family as well as sharing it with my sister." He said, finishing his speech. At the dango part, he had Anko already on his side as well as Saiku and Kanatsu interested even though he didn't know it already, with his dislikes and dream.

"I have a feeling I'm going to like this team already. You're up Foxy-kun." Anko motioned towards the vulpine genin.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. My likes involve becoming stronger, Saiku-chan, Kana-chan, Kakashi-onii-san, Hokage-Jiji, Yugao-chan, Rei-chan, Shinto and Anko-chan!" At that he got stupefied looks from his soon to be teammates. "I love ramen and I'll admit that dango is a great food when ramen isn't available at that time. My dislikes aren't many people except the few civilian families that think I'm a devil reincarnate and I also _hate_ rapists and sexist bastards! My ambition and dream is to have a fair life with a large family that I love, and become one of the strongest ninja in the elemental continent to protect those who I call my precious people." Naruto finished calmly with a determined gleam in his eyes that made his new teammates, and even Saiku and Kanatsu secretly, look at him in a slightly different light and belief that he could very well do what he dreamed of.

_'Maybe I could help you with that eventually my Foxy-kun.'_ Anko thought with a small genuine small that quickly disappeared into her usual smirk, "You're up next Red-chan!"

"My NAME is Rei Takashi not Red-chan! My likes are my brother," she gestured to him and smiled slightly at him, "dango and ramen both, Naruto-san and people with good values in them. My dislikes are people who don't give others a chance. I also despise rapists and pedophiles. My dream is to revive my clan with someone I love and enjoy having a large family with my brother's wife and kids." She said with a smile on her face.

"All in all, I like you guys so far. Now for the real genin test." She said, waiting for the eruption that typically came with each team.

"Wait, so we have to take a whole different damn test?!" Shinto rumbled out irritated at the fact of having to take another test.

Anko sadistically smirked at him, "You could just go back to the academy where you should belong if you can't do my test." Shinto instantly quieted down, fuming slightly with Rei shooting him amused glances.

"What I want you guys to do is to last the rest of the day, till 11:00 P.M while in the forest with nothing but your current equipment. You must also collect three poisonous plants OR poison in its raw form along with avoiding dangerous traps along the way. When it becomes close to the time limit start to head back to here. Oh and by the way, avoid the darker part of the forest if you want to live... Ready?" she asked making all three of them nod, waiting for her command. "Well go already! I don't want to have to fail you for not listening!" she said with another eeriely full smile on her face that made all three of them dash into the forest, cursing the person who had made the teams along the way.

"Hmm, I wonder how they'll do now that they their bodies will start saying that it doesn't have any food in from a seal I learned in T&I. Hehe. This day will become even more fun than I imagined, especially in a few hours when the food problem will begin to kick in." Anko mused aloud, twirling a kunai she flicked to her hand to play with.

_**XXX-XXX**_

(8:00 A.M) Hour One of Sixteen, Forest of Death

The group of three stopped momentarily on the upper branches of the trees once they were inside the forest. "So what do we need to get and do to pass?" Shinto asked, peering left and right every once in a while.

Rei responded, "If I remember correctly, we need to wait until midnight in here and also obtain four different poisonous plants, or raw poisons for Anko-sensei as well."

"Okay, so let's start a search for some of the poisonous plants. I can have my Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clone) search the floor while we do an overhead search to see if we can spot one or two from the trees. Also, be careful of traps. Anko-chan has a nasty side for traps." Naruto offered and warned the group. Shinto and Rei found no problems with it as they still had a little less than fifteen hours left in the forest. From there, they began the search with Naruto sending out ten Kage Bunshin in each ground direction while Naruto and the brother and sister began their overhead search while trying to be observant for any sort of traps along the way.

If only Anko told them how hard it is to actually _find_ the plants...

_**XXX-XXX**_

(12:00 P.M) Hour Five of Sixteen

"Oh my god! Another volley!" Naruto yelled in terror as yet another volley of shuriken came flying towards the trio from the North. Naruto and Shinto both pulled out two kunai and began systematically knocking the shuriken out of the air, even if they were going to miss them whereas Rei began throwing her own shuriken along with some of the scavenged ones that were flying overhead and too far to the side for the two male genin to hit.

Why were they hitting all of them out of the air? Well, it was simple. After missing kunai and shuriken on multiple occasions, it often set off another trap creating a chain reaction. The only way to stop the chain was to knock them all out of the air and even if they ran away, there were even MORE traps waiting in those directions. So far, they managed to pass most without any injuries other than a few scapes or minor cuts here and there with only one actual injury of a kunai stabbing into Naruto's leg.

Well, at least Rei knew some minor medical ninjutsu.

"*Pant* *Pant* How many waves does that make?" Shinto asked after the volley finally ended, his chest heaving from the strong workout the test was giving him.

Naruto shrugged, "I don't know *pant*, but this test is getting harder. I mean right now, I feel like I haven't ate in two days, we've only gotten one poison that you've identified as Kingsblood and that's not even counting any of the beasts we've yet to face."

The red-head of the team sighed as she finished the scavenging, "At least you didn't poison yourself from touching it." she briskly said, "If you did then you probably would've died. If anything, we need to check under the shade of the trees where the river's at. If I remember correctly, another poison should be there."

"Bah! Let's get something to eat already! We have still have twelve hours going by the sun and if we get hit by another volley we're probably going to get injured badly since it's getting harder to focus now." Shinto half reasoned, half growled. His sister sighed, but did agree with his logic.

"You're right. I think I have some nutrition bars here somewhere... Oh no." Her eyes opened wide as she finished checking herself for the scroll she had sealed some nutrition bars into for an easy meal, "Oh no, Oh no! The scroll for our food is gone!" Both Shinto and Naruto's stomached growled in protest to her comment.

"Maybe we should do some hunting?" Naruto suggested.

_**XXX-XXX**_

(1:00 P.M) Hour Six of Sixteen

Naruto, Shinto and Rei were all dashing away from their roasting fire from the river.

"Goddamn fucking swarming wolves!" Shinto swore aloud, "Fuck! We just lost half of the fucking food we just finished cooking!"

Both Rei and Naruto laughed under their breath at Shinto's cursing before Naruto decided he wanted to have Shinto be somewhat quiet, "At least we ate enough food and it's not like we could've won against those wolves. I mean, they were at least six feet tall and did you see how long they were?" Naruto reasoned with him, "And besides, we did get another plant for our test!" Naruto was right, they got the Sorrowmoss Rei had told them about.

The body builder grunted in response, visibly calming down only for Naruto to freeze up on the branch they had just jumped onto. "Naruto, what's up?" Rei warily asked. Nearly every single time Naruto stopped like that it was due to him hearing a line snap signaling a trap, or smelling something coming. The blonde slowly raised his hand forward, towards the leafy boughs of the tree. Shinto and Rei followed his arm, only to turn deathly white.

Slowly spinning down on a thick thread was an ENORMOUS spider. It was easily 12 feet long, 8 feet in height and with angry snapping pincers. All three of them froze as its eight beady eyes darted to and fro, only to stop onto the pair. It stopped moving down the web and spun itself to point towards Team 11. Rei took a small step back, creating a small hollow noise but it was all the spider needed.

It leapt towards the trio, its pincing snapping and fully intent to rip and maim something. "Shinto! I'll occupy the front, hit it from the side! Rei, try to hit its stomach!" Naruto commanded, dashing ahead with five Kage Bunshin already running ahead with him armed with two kunai each. Within seconds Naruto, with his clones, met with the spider and already began precariously dodging to avoid getting stabbed or bit from the wild beast.

By the time Naruto had gotten to the spider, it was just about to kill his last active Kage Bunshin before Rei began giving support from the lower branches, throwing kunai and shuriken alike towards the spider's soft underbelly. One by one they sunk into its flesh, blood dripping down to the floor in great globules yet it did not stop it. It did not slow it down. In fact, it even seemed to invigorate it somehow making it faster as it cleared any remaining distance between it and the blonde, snapping toward his head. It had finally gotten the picture that Naruto needed to be in place so it jabbed one of its legs into Naruto's right shoulder and snapped at his head, biting it only for it to poof into smoke revealed a log with a large gash in it and blood spattered over a portion of the branch. Waves upon waves of clones appeared in front of the beast, distracting it allowing Shinto the perfect opportunity to began jabbing, slicing and laying wounds onto the great spider's side who did not even notice the pain. It was only focused on the prey that had gotten away.

Within thirty seconds of furious slashing and stabbing its side revealed parts of its fleshy insides, its underbelly full of kunai and shuriken. When the final clone disappeared, a Kage Bunshin of Naruto appeared to its left moving it away from Shinto both of the brother and sister duo who were worried dreadly for their partner they had begun to trust with their very lives heard him yell, "Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu (Mythical Fire Phoenix Technique)!" Two large fireballs with a avian-like appearance rammed themselves into the head of the spider and with a great squeal of pain, it finally began to stagger to and fro like a drunken man on a cold night. Three Narutos then appeared with the real one in front of the trio and rammed his kunai into the remaining two open eyes whereas the other six were riddled with shuriken, hidden within the Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu that Kakashi had showed him how to do only a little less than a week ago.

Both Shinto and Rei did their final number onto the beast, the body builder ramming both of the kunai through the minced, armored side and into the fleshy innards with Rei throwing the last of her shuriken wrapped with ninja wire into the air just past the two side of the spider. The result? The wire sliced through the filleted underbelly of the spider stopping halfway, its innards falling down to the ground.

With an unearthly wail the great spider fell down to the ground. Seeing the carcass on the ground, Naruto quickly summoned a few Kage Bunshin to go and carefully take out the poison gland from the spider before sealing it away and throwing it to the original who quickly pocketed it and dispelled the clones just as predators began to prowl the area.

Shinto and Rei both quickly rushed towards the now staggering blonde, praying that it wasn't a critical injury. Almost as soon as they got towards Naruto they peered at his bloodied shoulder and grimaced at the sight of it, "Naruto, we need to get out of here. Don't fight me." Shinto warned Naruto and slipped him over his shoulder, dashing away from the darkened part of the Forest they had mistakenly stepped into.

"Nii-san, take him to the river and let's stay there for the rest of the time. I need to clean his puncture wound and wrap it up. Besides, without any food there no animals will bother us hopefully." Rei stated making Shinto nod his head, Naruto grunting his assent while trying to stay conscious.

_**XXX-XXX**_

(10:40 P.M) Hour Fifteen and a Half out of Sixteen

Nightfall fell about eight hours after the trio reached the riverbed with Naruto finally awakening from falling asleep after Rei had bandaged his shoulder up neatly around five hours after they reached the riverbed. From there they spent the time talking and chatting with each other, yet still on guard in case of another attack. Thankfully no attack occured or danger following them and they began making their way back towards the small clearing they began the test in.

"Ugh, my body is entirely sore from that hellhole." Shinto complained as they tree hopped towards where they began the test. Naruto agreed wholeheartedly with that statement.

Rei had to agree as well, "My arms feel like thick blocks of lead."

"I can't wait till I can finally go to sleep." Naruto moaned out just as the clearing came into view with Anko sitting on the ground eating a slice of dango in the middle of the clearing.

The purple haired Jounin's head swerved towards the trio and grinned widely, "Very nice play you three put on. Not only did you do as I said, you even managed to kill one of the spiders that some chuunin teams would have some slight diffculty on." Shinto growled loudly but held his tongue lest Anko retaliate back. She was more than capable of retaliating back as well.

"With what I saw, I believe I can confidently say... You pass!" Anko congratulated the trio, winking langouriously at the blonde when no one was looking at her except him.

*Poof*

*Poof*

Both Saiku and Kanatsu appeared in front of Naruto in a poof of smoke, hugging him tightly and congratulating him on passing, "Good job Naruto-kun. You did up and beyond of what we expected." Kanatsu whispered into his ear, Saiku whispering into his other one.

"You had us worried for a sec there Naru-kun. Don't worry us again, but good job." Her hot breath sending tingles down his spine when it hit his throat.

"Whoah! Who the hell are you to and why are you holding Foxy-kun?" Anko asked, a small hissing sound coming from her trench coat sleeve.

Naruto interjected at that moment, "Their names are Saiku-chan and Kanatsu-chan. They're fine, just with me so don't try anything with them Anko-chan." he warned, his eyes telling all three -Anko, Rei and Shinto- not to pry any further.

While trying to respect Naruto, Anko backed off on the subject, "Very well." she said, unnerved somewhat and somewhat jealous of the two amazingly hot women holding Naruto, "Since you three passed, I wrote down a little training schedule we will be follow for the next eight months straight, only taking D-Rank missions once a week for only you three." She passed them a sheet of paper she pulled from inside her trench coat.

They read it and quickly paled at what it said:

**6-10 A.M - Physical Training and Taijutsu **

**10-11 A.M - Break**

**12-3 P.M - Chakra Control / Jutsu (Only when control is at an adequate level.)**

**3-5 P.M - Teamwork Exercises / Team Spars**

**5-8 P.M - Self Interests Training (Kenjutsu, Med-Nin Jutsu, etc)**

They looked up to see Anko's ominious sadistic smirk, "The training begins tomorrow morning. Better leave now to get some rest." She let out a boistrous guaffaw when Shinto, Rei and Naruto went scrambling back to their house to get some sleep. It seems they weren't prepared to wake up early after all...

**_XXX-XXX_**

Timeskip - Eight Months, Hokage's Office

"Team Eleven," Sarutobi began in a no business-like tone, handing Anko a mission scroll, "You will be going to Wave Country to back up Team 7 as the mission parameters were smudged about. It's a C Rank gone A Rank mission. Go immediately and assist Kakashi's team in Wave. I want you to assassinate Gato as it will further decrease the probabilities of any more hired hands to assist in attempting to destroy the bridge along with helping end the imposed depression there." At this, the group of four Shunshin'ed away immediately, sealed their things away and within ten minutes, were already on the way not knowing how much this mission would change their lives.

* * *

**That would be the redone version of this chapter! Now, before you read the next two chapters be warned that only the dialogue has really been touched up. So if you can, ignore the crudeness of the next two chapters until chapter 6 where it's up to a good standard.**

**Have a good one and tell me how it was!**

**-KuyouFox**


	4. An Unlikely Encounter

**1/31/2013 Update: The chapter's dialogue has been touched up, not much else has been down however.**

**2/3/2013 Update: This chapter has been rewritten but still follows the same storyline.**

Oh by the way, the canon fight for Kakashi's team will essentially be the same so I won't go into it really, so for all intents and purposes, have Mai basically take Naruto's place, with the exception being Kakashi is able to get out of the Water Prison Jutsu by himself due to substituting with a Mizu Bunshin (Water Clone) he had set off to the side.

**Chapter Four – An Unlikely Encounter**

Traveling through the day, and partially into dusk was Team 11, taking around seven hours of nonstop tree-jumping to reach Nami no Kuni and Team 7 as support. Over the last eight months, the brutal training Anko had put them through was both extremely productive and effective. If one could look over her questionable ways _of_ training that is.

Naruto had grown a good two inches over the eight months, setting him at 5'9'' with virtually the same clothing that the Sandiame had given him about eight months ago. For the most part, his body began filling out in the right places within a few months of the rigorous training, giving him a fairly muscular yet wiry frame much like a marathon runner unlike Shinto who had the body builder type body. The blonde genin had also grown his hair out a bit, preferring to put it into a ponytail that went down to around the base of his neck at the longest with two slight bangs adorning the sides of his face. He had Shi no Ibuki (Breath of the Dead) strapped to his waist and the zanbatou that Kanatsu gave him Jigoku no Honō (Blaze of Hell) sealed away onto a little storage compartment on his wrist that Saiku had carved into his skin so as to ensure that Jigoku no Honō wouldn't be lost forever if the seal's ink ran, ruining the seal itself. Overall, a very fit and imposing figure when the situation calls for it.

Shinto on the other hand, had shot up like a tree trunk to around 5'7'', only slightly shorter than Naruto himself by maybe half a head at most. His clothing had changed from the more casual type clothing that he used to fight in. He had changed to the Anbu black pants that were somewhat baggy as they reached down towards his feet with a kunai holster on his right leg, along with a dark green muscle shirt covered by a black trench coat, much like Anko's. The trench coat also served two purposes for the body builder. One being that it constantly weighed him down giving him a perfect moblie weight that wasn't clunky at all and two; it helped hide his physique in a way that made his oposition assume he was not well musceled giving him slightly more leg room to deal a devastating attack despite the number one rule of all Shinobi and Kunoichi alike.

Never underestimate anything about your enemy, no matter what.

Whereas the two male genin's bodies of Team 11 lengthened and filled out, so too did Rei's. Her body began filling out with the womanly curves that Anko had made sure she began to take advantage of, as seduction was one of the strongest tools a Kunoichi had in her arsenal. Hell, Anko even made sure that she began wearing more revealing clothing rather than all the battle kimonos that she always wore. Now her clothing consisted of short black shorts, a dark blue shirt that showed both skin and cleaveage and her hair, that Anko had taken a kunai to shorten it since it would just get in the way of her eyes, that was now down to around the base of her neck that was normally permanently in a small ponytail.

For the most part, Anko's team went over some fairly big changes and they definitely showed them. "Alright, since this is our first A-Rank mission I want nothing more than you Gakis to listen and follow commands. You all know the chain of command for this mission and I also expect you to follow it." Anko's unusually serious voice broke the silence that the group had erected around itself, and for good reason. Even though they had been on numerous C-Rank missions and even B-Rank missions after completing the necessary amount of D-Rank missions from Naruto creating and sending Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clone) to go and complete them for the team, this was their first A-Rank mission. The purple haired Jounin had made sure that they fully understood that, along with a simple chain of command that was in place in case of an accident occuring to Anko, their sensei. It went down in a very simple order, Anko, any other Jounin in the field, then Naruto. The whole of Team 11 agreed wholeheartedly with that as it was fair and exact to each other.

If the situation became dire enough after that, and by Anko's words herself, 'If it gets to that point, get your scrawny asses out of there and hope Saiku and Kanatsu could bail us out by covering our tails.' Yes, in those eight months, Naruto felt that he could trust his team with his life and that if they were entrusting their life in his hands and vice versa they deserved to know about both Saiku and Kanatsu. It didn't mean he told them instantly, but it was more of a gradual trusting thing until around six months out of the eight months they had been together that Naruto had told them. With both Saiku and Kanatsu's consent of course.

Also over the eight months that Team 11 had been formed, Anko, Saiku and Kanatsu had all grown closer to Naruto in both affection and trust and vice versa. Even though Naruto still refused to call Anko, Anko-sensei as he was still wary of her trying to 'have her way with him' as she had said before they started their second Genin Test after passing the one in the Academy even though it was a win-win for Anko either way being referred to as Anko-chan or the other option. She had even gotten close enough that when Naruto had saw the seal on her left shoulder, instead of instantly snapping at him when he pried into it, she had reluctantly told him about the seal and of Orochimaru. Not all of it as it was still one of her darkest secrets and moments in her life, but she still told him about it showing an uncommonly strong level of trust she had with only one other in the village, Kurenai Yuhi.

From that point, Naruto -with Kanatsu and Saiku's prodding and helpful suggestions- began chipping away at the mask Anko had unconsciously erected on herself, until she was finally her true, 100% self when the pair was alone with each other. So naturally, instead of the sadistic Jounin nearly everyone in Konoha knew, other than one or two, he began to know -and adore- her rather calm, trusting and bubbly personality that Naruto began to love and enjoy.

"Hai, Anko-chan/sensei." Naruto, Shinto and Rei all replied with equal seriousness to Anko's command.

The purple haired Jounin nodded once before dropping her unusually serious expression and returning to her masked persona that she showed to everyone except Naruto, Kurenai and the two goddesses Saiku and Kanatsu. It wasn't that she didn't trust them, but more along the lines of self-preservation. They didn't approach her about it and she did the same in return.

"Good!" she replied with a smirk, "Now then, get a move on before I start throwing kunai at you for slowing down!" she barked at the trio, watching them all shiver and quicken their pace.

Anko damn well knew how to train a genin to listen to commands.

_**XXX-XXX**_

Timeskip - Thirty Minutes Later, Outside Tazuna's House

"Ughh, finally here!" Naruto grunted out, stretching his sore legs when they finally landed near a partially hidden house near a dock close to the lake that was there.

"So this is Tazuna's house." Rei said as she studied the surrounding area, including the house. The overall area was foggy for the most part with moss, grass and weeds growing from the forest of trees that was around the house. Easy place to set up traps for both alerting the occupants of the house and for slowing / killing any upcoming forces that would come.

The sensei of Team 11 took the lead and began striding towards the house with a grin on her face. This could be a very fun and interesting test to see if Kakashi's genin were prepared for an enemy-nin attack but so far with no traps having been laid out, Anko was already guessing that they weren't. Anko silently tried the door and found it to be locked before taking out a specialized kunai with the blade being entirely flat instead of growing thinner as it went to the tip of the weapon, and used it to pick the locked door. It opened with a click and creaked open, Anko walking in unabashedly.

All three genin of Team 11, including Saiku and Kanatsu who were inside the seal, all shared a quiet laugh while thinking of the shock that the occupant's of Tazuna's house would get when they woke up to cook and eat breakfast and saw an unknown Kunoichi sitting t the table of the kitchen.

**XXX-XXX**

"*Sigh* Anko-san, did you really have to tie up my genin after thoroughly taunting them?" Kakashi sighed at his fellow Jounin Sensei from Konoha. When Tsunami woke up not even five minutes after Anko had walked in, she fainted after seeing an unknown woman twirling a kunai in her kitchen. Then the genin appeared after hearing a dull thud and from there...

Well, Anko had thoroughly humiliated them by the time Kakashi meandered down the stairs. At that point, her own team decided to walk in leading up where Kakashi began sighing at Anko.

"Kakashi, what _have_ you been training them anyways? The only one who had some idea on how to approach me was the Uchiha gaki and even then, it was terrible. And besides, why not?" Anko answered with another question that Kakashi just ignored and began untying his students, removing the cloth that was used as a gag. When the gag was removed, nearly all three of the genin babbled about how insane she was.

"Kakashi-sensei! She is crazy!" Sakura's eyes went wide with fear when they met Anko's own.

Mai agreed wholeheartedly with her, "And she's part of the backup you ordered from Konoha?"

Sasuke just shivered slightly in rememberance of what she did to him with a snake, "She is not someone to mess with..." he shivered out, avoiding her gaze when he could. Uchiha pride be damned, living was more important than dying to a sadistic snake mistress.

Anko just threw her head back and guaffed, "Damn right gaki. Don't mess with me and you'll live a lot longer." All three of her students sighed at her antics.

The silver haired Jounin then finally acknowledged Naruto after releasing Team 7, "Yo Naruto." He eye-smiled towards his 'smaller' surrogate brother. _'Hard to believe he's about 14 years younger than me. He looks so much like sensei, yet also looks like himself at the same time.'_ Kakashi warmly thought of the young boy that he used to save from villagers whenever the blonde couldn't get away from them himself.

Naruto's face lit up at the sight of Kakashi, "How's it been? Sorry I haven't really talked with you in like eight months." He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, taking his gaze towards Anko then back to Kakashi who understood completely. Crazy Jounin Sensei, worked into the ground from daybreak till nightfall.

"Maa maa, it's fine Naruto. I myself have been busy with my new line of work." Kakashi motioned towards his two cowering genin and the other barely maintaining a stoic composure with worry leaking out every once in a while.

The blonde sweatdropped in response, "You're not really trying and I know it Kakashi. Maybe we," Naruto motioned towards Rei and Shinto, "Could do a few... _spars_ against your team to help motivate them." It was offical, Naruto was definitely Anko's student.

"Maybe once they've been trained up some more Naruto." Kakashi eye-smiled in response.

Shinto took this moment to interject, "Hey Naruto let's go spar already. I think my kenjutsu is getting a bit rusty."

Rei shook her head at her brother, "You just want to have a Kenjutsu spar against Naruto-kun Shinto-nii." The body builder shrugged and stared at Naruto, expecting an answer when Kakashi had an idea about how to reduce the rather tense atmosphere that was residing between the two teams.

"What about we have a sparring match between teams?" Kakashi suggested. Almost instantly Sasuke and Shinto rose to their full height, both ready and willingly to go that second.

The red-head of Team 11 shook her head at her all too willing brother, "I'd rather we do the spar tomorrow when we've had some time to rest. We just came here from Konoha without stopping." She leveled a gaze at her brother that told him one thing and one thing only, 'Listen or else.' Shinto sighed, but stepped down.

"Shinto-san," Mai's quiet voice rang out attracting attention the attention of the burly genin, "Where is your sword if you want to have a Kenjutsu spar?" she asked.

"Right here," Shinto pointed to his left hand's wrist where a small carved seal was indented into his skin, "It's sealed away, ready to pop out in a moments notice." To show off, he focused a small amount of chakra towards the seal and with a large poof of smoke was a large black zanbatou that looked very similar to Zabuza's own sword, Kubikiri Hōchō.

All three of the genin of Team 7 flinched as they gazed at the sword lookalike that had nearly killed them. "How the hell did you get that sword?" Sasuke crouched, pulling a kunai out in a reverse grip towards Shinto.

Shinto looked visibly confused at his reaction to his sword but heatedly replied, "It's my own damn sword you ass, what the hell are you talking about?"

Off to the side near Kakashi, Anko looked on with mild interest yet had no plans to stop the upcoming fight. Kakashi stepped in and decided this was the time to finally break the news about Zabuza's fate, "Stop fighting now!" He ordered, being every inch of the legendary Shinobi that he was. Instantly the fight was halted before any injuries had occured and the ex-Anbu had gained the undivided attention of both teams, including Anko who had gone into her serious, professioal mode. If Kakashi was acting serious then Anko figured she should as well.

"Now that I have your attention, there is some serious news to address. Anko," He turned towards his fellow Jounin, "Zabuza Momochi is one of the missing-nin that Gato has hired. We barely beat him off not two days ago along with the Demon Brothers. Now, when Zabuza was knocked unconscious a Hunter-nin bearing the Kiri sign on his mask appeared after throwing three senbon into his neck and taking the body away." Kakashi then turned towards the genin, "Zabuza is not dead even though I felt his neck and there was no heartbeat. The Hunter-Nin was most likely an accomplice to Zabuza as he didn't cut the head off and burn the body as is the procedure for all nation's Hunter-Nin."

Instantly there was declarations of shock and even fear from his genin.

Sakura mumbled, " H-he's still alive?!"

"How did he live…?" Mai said trailing off.

Sasuke trembled, not in fear, not of excitement but of a weird mix of the two. Almost as if he wanted to test his worth against Zabuza again for some odd reason.

Anko's team on the other hand stiffened and cursed quietly knowing that there was a high A-Rank missing-nin now tossed into the playing field.

"He's alive because of the weapon used, senbon." Kakashi said, as if it explained everything. When his genin didn't understand, he went to explain, "Senbon are a weapon that requires an innate understanding of the human body, superb aim and precision or else they're essentially worthless. But, if you meet all three of these requirements then they're an extremely dangerous weapon. With them, one could put another in a near death-like state." He explained to his distraught genin.

"What're were going to do now Kakashi-sensei? We couldn't do anything in the first place..." Sakura dejectedly asked from which Kakashi eye-smiled and replied with one word.

"Training." He motioned for them to follow him outside.

Anko's team on the other hand looked slightly curious at what they Team Seven was going to be taught since Kakashi was injured. As they watched him limp, they noticed it was to three trees.

_'They can't possibly not know how to tree walk since they were genin for eight months,'_ Naruto thought in shock at his comrades for this mission. His own team was in shock that they weren't taught this technique earlier. What had they been working on for the past eight months?

_'I agree with you Naruto-kun. This is one of the most important techniques to learn if you want to be able to control your chakra,'_ Kanatsu said, shaking her head in dismay at the silver haired Jounin's lack of training his students.

"Kakashi-sensei, what are we going to learn anyways?" asked the pink haired girl.

"Tree Climbing!" he said happily.

"Um, I hate to burst your bubble Kakashi-sensei, but we already know how to climb a tree with our hands." Said Sakura, obviously confused at the point of his exercise.

"Who said anything about your hands?" Kakashi asked with his eye smile on his face. He limped to the tree and very slowly walked up the tree trunk with only using his feet. He walked back down and got varying levels of shock and awe.

Shinto sighed loudly and turned towards Anko, "Mind if we go and do some training? I feel a bit too wound up to sleep right now."

Anko just waved them off, "So long as you don't utterly destroy the forest and don't die, have fun." She proceeded to walk off towards the house to most likely take a nap. Her team jumped off into the woods to find a clearing each to train themselves before any of Team 7 could even utter why they weren't doing what they were doing.

"Kakashi-sensei, don't they have to learn tree climbing too?" Sakura asked, being somewhat peeved that they were exempt from doing what Team 7 was doing.

Her sensei just eye-smiled and replied with, "Anko-san must've already taught them. Keep working on this until you can sprint up and down the tree trunk three times without stopping once."

_**XXX-XXX**_

After the genin of Team 11 jumped into the trees, they split up to find a clearing regardless of its size to begin training in their respective fields. For Shinto, that meant furthering his endurance and fluidity of his Kenjutsu. Rei went to find a way to replicate Tsunade of the Sannin's monstrous physical strength by coating and releasing her chakra in the instant of impact, be it a fist or a foot, elbow or knee.

For Naruto, he went to train his depth perception and reflexes by sparring with Saiku and possibly Kanatsu as it would be worthless if he got into a fight with an enemy Ninja that went faster than he could keep track of and even if he could keep track of them, would he be able to react in time? Anko's training had helped immensely in this prospect but Naruto was almost positive she always held back in some way when they were sparring.

Yet, when he got to the hazy, dimly lit, oval shaped clearing there was already an occupant to it. A woman by the looks of it -which Naruto had a fairly decent view to judge- in nothing but a hospital gown, shivering on the ground with her long auburn colored hair that had various pieces foliage in it spread around herself as if it were a blanket. However, as soon as Naruto dropped down to the ground to rush over to her she barely rose in time to back away quickly, warily. And it looked like she had a good reason to _be_ wary of anyone really that approached her. She literally looked like she had just escaped a mob that was thirsting for her blood. Her arms were scabbed up heavily, it looked like she had a dislocated shoulder by every whimper she let out when she had to move her left arm, there was various burns spread over her body and if one thing was certain, it looked like she had been tortured.

Naruto opened his mouth and began in what he hoped would sound calming to the hurt woman, "Hey, I'm not going to hurt you." He further illustrated his point by sealing away Shi no Ibuki onto his left wrist and tossing his kunai and shuriken off to the side. "Do you mind if I help you?" he asked, carefully watching her facial reactions. So far, shock and confusion seemed to be the most prominent out of all of them. She slowly nodded, her eyes misting slightly from the pain she was bearing from her numerous wounds.

_'Naruto-kun, summon a Kage Bunshin to go and get Rei. In the meantime, don't leave her if you can. You'll become her security blanket once she wakes up from when Rei has to have her unconscious and if she doesn't see you then she could panic. That would leave to a whole host of other problems that she won't need right now.'_ Kanatsu's voice rang clear to Naruto and he followed what she said by the letter.

"I'm going to summon a Kage Bunshin to get a friend to heal you." Naruto warned the auburn-haired woman and summoned a clone who immediately dashed off to find Rei. He then began slowly approaching the woman, his hands held up. When he finally reached her, she latched onto him, sobbing from the pain she was barely keeping in check. Naruto looked momentarily stunned that she just latched onto him, but soon was soon gingerly rubbing small circles on her back, giving soft words of consolement and comfort that only seemed to make her sob even more.

"Naruto, your clone told me what happened. Is this the woman?" Rei asked him, peering at the stiffening woman in Naruto's arms on the ground.

He rubbed her back comfortingly once more, whispering in her ear, "It's fine, she's the one I called for. She'll heal you up and make you feel better."

She shivered and slowly nodded at him but not before whispering back, "D-D-Don't l-leave..." With that, she fell unconscious in the blonde's arms. Naruto gingerly layed her out on the softest patch of ground which was conviently right underneath them.

Naruto turned to his red-haired teammate, "Yeah, this is the woman I need you to heal." She briskly nodded, her hands glowing a soft green not moments before kneeling down next to the woman. Rei grimmaced as she looked over her wounds, both internal and external. The woman before her had numerous lacerations, bruised ribs, broken bones, a dislocated shoulder and 2nd degree burns over her back. That was not even mentioning small needle-like incisions that hinted at injections. Still the question that went off in her mind; what happened to cause injuries such as this?

Regardless of the answer, she began using her Med-Nin jutsu to begin healing the outside wounds, in particular the open and bleeding gashes / lacerations before moving towards her burns. Within 15 minutes she had finished healing a good portion of the outside injuries. She wiped the sweat that formed on her brow and looked up to see Naruto nodding towards both Saiku and Kanatsu who were in their typical animal forms, running off with serveral of his Kage Bunshin. Was she really that focused in her healing that she missed the telltale signs of the two women coming from Naruto's seal, namely the poofing sound that always happened along with the smoke that came along with it?

She shrugged before popping a soldier pill to replenish her reserves back to nearly full. If she didn't and ran out of chakra in the middle of doing an internal healing the results could be... less than savory for both her and the woman.

_**XXX-XXX**_

Naruto's Perspective

The jinchuuriki stared momentarily at the woman that Rei was healing before going back to his mental conversation with Saiku and Kanatsu.

_'Naru-kun, this raises some questions though. Where did she come from? Is there anyone chasing after her?'_ Saiku shot off her questions.

He nodded once, _'I agree, it does... But regardless, if she was beat that badly then she's probably hated for some reason, be it she was on the wrong side of the law or for some other reason.'_

_'You both know I can judge emotions fairly well, both hidden and showing emotions from my job. So far, I couldn't see anything that could be malicious from her. All I saw was fear and primarily confusion. She is most likely lost for some reason or does not remember anything.'_ Kanatsu mused to the other two she was talking to.

_'That and she's wearing a hospital gown, so maybe she just came from a hospital or maybe a lab?' _Naruto asked.

_'With how recent her injuries look and her confusion I'm guessing she escaped from a lab.'_ Saiku added with a nod of her head. With all the info they currently had, it seemed like the thing this woman would do if what Kanatsu read from her emotions correctly. If not, then they could help her regardless. They would just have to be careful about it though.

Kanatsu gave the mental equivalent of a nod to Naruto and Saiku_, 'Alright Naruto-kun, Saiku-chan. In that case, we need to survey the area to discover if she was followed or not.'_

_'I'll summon three Kage Bunshin then. One to accompany each of you and another to bring Shinto up to pace and help with the search.'_ Naruto finalized the rest of their plan and did as he said.

_**XXX-XXX**_

Timeskip - 1 hour and 23 Minutes

Over the time that Rei had finished her healing, Saiku, Kanatsu and Shinto all returned with nary a spec of evidence to suggest that the auburn-haired woman was being tailed or followed in any way, shape or form. It was odd though that she had appeared as well, with very little tracks to suggest that she had ran far. Her tracks had ran from the shore of the lake near Tazuna's House to the clearing they were currently in. However, that raised even more questions:

What waranted someone or something to throw the woman into the water to drown, or did she do it to feign death to escape anyway she could? So many questions arose, and only she would be able to answer them.

Regardless, they would get their answers soon enough as the auburn-haired woman was just rousing herself up from Rei finishing her healing process. She immediately looked to the left and right, visibly calming down when she beheld Naruto's form in her eyes. "Y-You didn't leave..." she murmured in a shocked voice.

Naruto smiled his vulpine-like smile and made his voice comforting sounding, "Of course Miss..."

"M-Mei Terumi." 'Mei' supplied him with her name without any hesitation.

"Pretty name Mei-chan." Naruto stated before asking a single question that he hoped she would be able to answer, "What happened Mei-chan?" Mei had visibly stiffened at his question before deflating like a balloon.

"I-I don't remember what happened before in my life... But, wh-when I woke up I was in pain, so much pain..." she murmured, her eyes misting again with the hints of tears following and her voice beginning to grow stronger from there, "I looked around and found myself in a dark room on a cold metal table with various syringes and needles next to to me. There was a door cracked open so I took a chance and ran out...

_**XXX-XXX**_

Flashback - Mei's Escape

Mei awakened with a gasp of air. Immediately she arose and regretting her decision to do so. Pain spiked and flared throughout her body, parts of which burned as if a thousand red hot senbon were stabbed over her body. _'W-wait... wh-where am I?'_ Mei turned her head sideways, emerald eyes darting around the room to find something to help identify where she was and what she was even doing there in the first place. Seeing both the hospital gown she was wearing, syringes near her off to the side and her laying on a cold metal table with straps on it made her draw conclusions easily enough.

The auburn-haired woman took what she attempted to be a steadying breath, but only came out as several pants in quick succession. _'O-Okay, so... I'm in some type of lab or torture basement maybe? I'm hurt... badly, don't know how I got here and there are big blanks in my memories.' _Taking a few minutes to relax her body in an attempt to reduce the throbbing pain from numerous places on her body, she took another look around the room. This time to find a possible way of escape. There were no air vents that could be exploited, the ground was straight concrete from what she saw, only a door that was... cracked open? Why was it cracked open?

_'I need to get out of here... Please dear Kami don't let me make too much noise.'_ Mei momentarily prayed, hoping and longing for her wish to be granted only to be brought back to the cold hard reality of the situation when she slowly got up and took a step off of the table. She nearly fell like a rag doll, crumpled and utterly boneless. Her legs were screaming for any kind of realease from the pain, her lungs roaring in protest from having to breathe yet she perservered to the door which she grasped and held with an ironclad grip despite even the burning agony she felt in them as well.

_'I need to keep_ _going...' _

Mei continued forward, limping slowly outside the door blinking her eyes at the blinding light emanating from the ceiling. Her eyes darted to and fro, searching for anything that would do her harm and found nothing except an empty corridor with a door on the other side. Limping forth again, she continued to the door. Hearing voices slowly approaching from the opposite side of the corridor she hastened her pace, not wanting to be in this hell anymore. Yet the two male voices had spotted her.

"STOP YOU WENCH!"

"STOP HER!"

_'I can't stay here...'_

Mei reached the door, not wanting to peer behind herself she threw the door out showing a cliff only yards away. She hastened her progress, ignoring the increasing burning of her limbs, the shortness of her breath until she reached the cliff edge. She finally took the moment to peer behind and the two men were drawing their weapons, to kill her or to detain her, Mei didn't know.

_'Can't be captured again...'_

The woman leapt off the ledge into the relatively calm water. Her body snapping like a rag doll, but she didn't feel like with her other pains. A piece of wood washed up near her and Mei would be damned if she didn't take it to help her stay afloat. Throwing her arms around it, ignoring both the cries of the men and of her pain she drifted off, both in consciousness and along the water.

_**XXX-XXX**_

End Flashback

Mei's eyes were tearing up in remembrance of the agony, of the pain, yet she continued to finish her story to its entirety, "I woke up at a shore here maybe this morning or was it night..." Naruto brought her into a gentle embrace that she gratefully took, enjoying the warmth of the blonde, "I limped here and fell in and out of consciousness until you came." She drew back slightly, peering into his warm blue eyes and for a moment, emerald melting in gaze of the sapphire, "Thank you for helping me." Mei drew forward and kissed him lightly on the cheek before closing her eyes, resting her head on his shoulder before feeling two things that were soft and furry. They came into view, a fox and wolf... Saiku-chan and Kana-chan Naruto called them? She smiled at them, relaxing into the blonde. Her eyes seemingly closing instantly as she laid her head down.

_'Kana-chan-'_ Saiku began only for Kanatsu to cut her off for once.

_'I know Saiku-chan, I know. This woman has found her lifeline and she won't leave it for anything barring death. Maybe we should tell them about the seal we created for a bond similar to what we what but also the drawbacks of it.'_

_'Hai, Kana-chan. We should.'_ Saiku, unusually serious agreeing as well with Kanatsu's judgement. For once, Naruto didn't listen to their conversation only trying to wrap his mind around this woman, this enigma while rubbing his cheek where she had pecked him.

_'That felt almost the same as if Kana-chan or Saiku-chan pecked me...'_ The blonde thought to himself, rising to his full height with Mei snuggled into his arms, Saiku rubbing his other cheek with her head and Kanatsu gently smiling at him in the process.

Shinto and Rei were off to the side, totally absorbing the amount of information they just heard, numbly following Naruto, Kanatsu and Saiku back to the house.

_'What a woman to deal with such pain...'_ Rei shivered at the thought of anyone having to go through what she had to.

_'This woman has a will of steel and iron if even half of what she described was exaggerated.'_ Shinto thought, mentally praising Mei. Definitely one interesting woman.

_**XXX-XXX**_

Finally reaching the house, the group of six finally arrived at Tazuna's humble abode. They strode in, Naruto taking the lead before the rest and looked up to see Anko fully awake and staring at the woman who was in Naruto's arms. Before she could comment, Sakura however had beaten her to the punch.

"Naruto-baka! What did you do to that woman?!" she yelled out, oblivious to the fact that no one else was commenting on the subject.

Naruto just leveled a glare that could've burned a hole in her head if it was possible, "I did nothing to hurt her!" he hissed out, thoroughly annoyed and slightly angry that someone would peg him for hurting an innocent woman, "I found her in the forest and Rei healed her up." Sakura did not like that answer and her actions very well showed it. Quickly striding towards him as fast as her short legs could take her, she was about to cock her fist back and strike when Anko grabbed the cocked back fist with a bored expression, rage burning behind it. How dare this genin try to hurt her Foxy-kun when he only helped this auburn-haired woman?

_'Whoah, whoah, whoah. When the hell did I start considering him mine?'_ Anko shrugged before turning her gaze to the pink-haired genin whose fist she was currently holding, "Bad mistake pinky." _'I think now is a good time to show why I was and still am considered a feared interrogater.' _"Did you know that assaulting a comrade in the field could be considered the same as attempted murder? I wonder what the law says about that particular punishment..." Anko grew a smirk at watching the girl's face grow ashen and eyes widening to the size of dinner plates. The ex-interrogater felt a flash of pride at being able to cause such a reaction with so little work being done in the process.

In a flash when Anko released her hand, Sakura trembled for a moment and ran back outside. "Anko-san, did you really have to be so..." Kakashi sighed while trying to find the appropriate word and just gave up. "Just avoid trying to mentally screw with my genin please."

"So long as they don't try to screw with mine for no good reason, or reasons based on unfounded facts and false accusations." Anko shot back at him, taking momentary glee at his slumping shoulders.

"Why was she here in the first place? She didn't seem exhausted from training at all." Naruto observed, still standing in the same spot as if nothing had happened whereas Shinto and Rei had walked off to possibly train some more.

"She had completed my assignment of running up and down the tree trunk three times without stopping." Kakashi's tone grew harder, "It seems I need to double her assignments if her attitude stays the same." He walked off but not before walking up to Naruto and putting a scroll in his hands.

"The techniques I had originally wanted to teach you but never had the time." The one-eyed Jounin explained before waving a wave and limping only slightly out of the door now.

"Now then Naruto, mind telling me what happened?" Anko's voice came, half mixed with a warning tone that told Naruto he'd better tell her and also blatant curiosity of how Mei came into the picture. Naruto shot a look to either Saiku or Kanatsu and didn't find them.

_'Traitors.'_ he mentally yelled to the two goddesses who were currently ignoring him. Turning to Anko he resigned himself to the fate of having to tell Anko what happened. Maybe that was why Shinto and Rei had run away...

"Let me just set Mei-chan down in my room and I'll tell you what happened." Anko raised an eyebrow at him and he hurried to explain, "I'd prefer her not to be in one of Team 7's rooms as Kakashi is a pervert, Sasuke will no doubt do something incredibly stupid and I don't quite trust Sakura and Mai."

Anko nodded once, amused at him, "I didn't really care about where you were putting her. I just noticed you calling her Mei-_chan_." she teased the blushing teen. That was one thing Anko enjoyed about him, despite all of her and Saiku's teasing. He never stopped blushing. "Should I be jealous Foxy-kun? Or maybe you have another woman hiding somewhere?" Anko just kept on with teasing him, her infernally wide grin making it all the better for her and worse for him.

Naruto began stammering before darting up the stairs to momentarily escape the unceasing teasing, his sensei's loud laughing following him. Crossing through the doorway into the guest room that was temporarily loaned out to him from Tsunami, he gave the room an appraising glance.

It was bare for the most part, with only a rug and a bed in the corner of the room. There was also a window, but no mirrors in the room as well. Naruto shrugged and went to place Mei in the bed. Slowly unhooking her hands from his body he backed up to find her stirring already. She blinked her eyes at the loss of the warmth and looked around to find herself in a bed with Naruto backing up slowly so as to not awaken her. Yeah, like that worked well.

"You're leaving?" Just those two simple words made him feel guilty for some reason. Naruto shook his head and his lips twitched upwards slightly.

"No, I'm just going to be downstairs talking to my sensei, Anko-chan."

Mei frowned as he turned around to leave but before he closed the door she heard his voice say, "I'll leave a Kage Bunshin to stay with you in the room. If you need anything, just order it to do it and if you need me just dispell the clone and I'll rush in." With that, a clone poofed into existance near the bed as Naruto closed the door.

_**XXX-XXX**_

"Let me get this straight," Anko lifted up her hand and began counting each point with a finger, "You found her in the forest, got Rei to heal her, found no one following her, came from an unknown place with no memory about it and on top of that she's basically attached to your hip."

Naruto sweatdropped at the last fact but nodded nonetheless, "For the most part, yeah."

Anko's lip curled upwards into a smirk, "For the most part? She's either attached to you or not. Which is it?" Even though Anko was teasing him about, she still felt a pang of jealousy for the attention he was giving Mei. _'Maybe I need to sit down and figure out my feelings about the gaki. He is really close though and he's one of the very few to have actually seen my true side...'_

Rolling in eyes in response Naruto chose to ignore the ribbing, "So how long are we going to be here for our mission of taking out Gato and helping Kakashi's team deal with theirs?"

She nodded, almost glad to get off the topic but she wouldn't show that weakness to him. Her body lost its slight hunched and relaxed position and grew serious for once. Maybe getting a genin team wasn't the smartest idea for her to take. They had changed her in a small way, going serious at parts that deserved it, "Right now we have a maximum of six days here, minimum of two. When Shinto and Rei get back, we'll go over the layout of the _mansion_ that Gato lives in from your Kage Bunshin's scouting that you sent out before we arrived here. If we find anything to pertain to his plans to Zabuza. If we do find something that can be used then Kakashi will deal with it in the meantime whereas our team will head back to Konoha."

"Sounds good Anko-chan."

The Jounin in question just scoffed and played it off after she stood up and turned away from Naruto, mainly to hide the faint blush she had at his praise, "Of course it is, I made it after all!"

"Go out and train some more Foxy-kun. I'll watch over the house for now. If anything pops up I'll flare my chakra so Kanatsu-chan and Saiku-chan can pick it up." She dismissed him. Naruto frowned at the way she was acting, it was somewhat more subdued than her actual self.

Before he left, Naruto stopped by the door and asked, "Are you okay Anko-chan?"

She brushed off his question easily enough, "Go out and train or I'll start your training for you." Anko lowly warned him before he left. Naruto frowned, wanting to stay but knew better than to push his luck with the woman.

_'Naruto-kun, why do you have to make me feel like this?' _The Jounin's emotions were a roiling storm at sea when it came to the blonde. Jealousy at other women for staring at him, happiness at being able to be herself when with him and.. maybe even stronger feelings?

_'I really need to sort these feelings out and soon...'_

_**XXX-XXX**_

Timeskip - Next Day (6:37 P.M), Tree Climbing Clearing

"Maa maa, you're late Naruto." Kakashi eye-smiled at the blonde whereas Anko and the whole of Team 7 sweatdropped with comments of 'Damn hypocrite' going around.

"Sorry, sorry but at least I'm here." Naruto sheepishly replied, rubbing the back of his head, "But I was held up by my two companions. They're bringing Mei-chan over now since she's finally well enough to start moving without hurting herself."

At that point in time Saiku and Kanatsu came into view in their respective animal forms along with Mei Terumi in a rather unique outfit that none of them had seen. She wore a long-sleeved, dark blue dress that fell just below her knees, which has a slit on the front-right side from the waist down. The dress only covered up to the upper part of her arms and the underside of her breasts showing part of a mesh bodysuit that covers more of her upper body than her dress, but stops short at just under her shoulders, showing off her considerable bust size. And wearing high-heeled sandals and shin-guards reaching up over her knees, dark blue polish on her fingers and toes, with a similar color lipstick, she looked amazing to them all but with varying degrees to each of them.

Sometimes Naruto really wondered where Saiku and Kanatsu managed to find all their various articles of clothing. _'Maybe it is true that all women have secret storage seals full of random items.'_ Naruto chalked the reason off to.

_'I wonder how I could take this woman for my own. If only I could take her to Konoha the council could help me...'_ thought Sasuke.

_'This woman might try to poach onto my grounds for Sasuke-kun,'_ Sakura worriedly thought, desperately wanting to get Sasuke's attention drawn to her, and not to Mei.

_'Wow...'_ Mai said to herself, mentally checking her out.

From Kakashi low, quiet perverse giggles were going off every few seconds that virtually no one heard as he was a few meters away from everyone else. Too bad they didn't see the blood dripping down his mask as well.

Anko began feeling slight pangs in her heart when she noticed that, despite everyone staring at Mei, the only one she wanted was too staring at her. Yet those pangs quickly vanished when Naruto turned to Anko after hearing a slight gritting of her teeth. He smiled that still vulpine-like grin at her and the pangs quickly turned to flutterings. _'W-What did he do? He just smiled at me it's like I just ran a race against Gai. D-Do I like him?'_

_'Saiku-chan,'_

_'Yes Kana-chan?' _asked the grinning Saiku.

_'I think she got their attention rather fast with the clothing we gave her.' _Kanatsu responded in a self-satisfied manner.

Saiku nodded in agreement, '_Of course she did! You picked the colors to best match her and I chose the sexy outfit!'_

Kanatsu rolled her eyes at her friend, _'Of course you did...__'_

_'You know I can still hear the two of you, right?'_ Naruto amusedly asked.

_'Maybe we wanted you to hear.'_ Saiku instantly shot back. Naruto remained silent after that.

Since everyone that was going to spar was there, Kakashi began explaining how it would work, "This will be a friendly spar between each other as a way of getting to know each other. We can either have it two ways, we do it as a tournament style where one team will have one winner fight the winner of the other team. The other way is that you just choose your opponent and face them."

"I want to face the dobe." Sasuke near instantly replied, choosing the second option.

_'Is this really happening?'_ Anko sadistically grinned, chortling on the inside, _'Naruto-kun will utterly decimate the little Uchiha gaki.' _"I'm fine by that."

Naruto raised an eyebrow as to why Sasuke would want to face him, "Why me?"

"I want to test my power against your own dobe. Why else?" Sasuke stuck his nose up at Naruto giving him a slightly pompous look.

"That's fine by me." Naruto sighed, cracking his knuckles before grinning like Anko's fake persona, "Want to make any bets like last time there Sasuke-chan?"

The raven-haired boy flinched in remembrance of the bet. So many fangirls... So much shame...

He had to get the dobe back twofold for that. "You train me if you lose, if you win..." It would hurt his pride, but he would do it. Besides, why would he lose in the first place? He had gotten plenty stronger with his self-training in the past eight months.

"If you win I won't pester you for training or for strength." His face looked like it swallowed a toad, but he had said it and the shock from everyone's face was enough for Naruto to instantly agree to it.

"Fine by me, I just hope you have some plan to beat me because just mindlessly running at me will result in a quick knockout for you."

In return, Sasuke peered around and didn't focus on anything for too long so as to not give anything of what he could plan away. He noticed the new woman, Mei Terumi, staring hard at the so-called 'dobe' before a plan began forming. Even though he was prudent and yes, he could agree he was arrogant and pompous in the correct area but the situation called for desperate measures. She was only a civilian and hadn't shown any Kunoichi skill so the plan finalized in his mind.

Naruto and Sasuke both walking a ways away from both Teams 7 & 11, including Mei, Kanatsu and Saiku. Kakashi followed them with only a slight limp to his step to commence the fight. "Ready?" The one-eyed Jounin recieved two nods from both of the genin, "Hajime." He jumped back to avoid becomming part of the collatoral damage even though he could easily avoid it.

The jinchuuriki stepping into his Uzuken (Whirlpool Fist) style, a generic taijutsu form with one side of the side ahead of the other, one hand half-clenched in the air in front of the body with the other down low also half-clenched as if to catch any fists and kicks easily. He mentally grimaced as he remembered just how he was introduced to the style though.

**_XXX-XXX_**

Flashback - Seven 1/2 Months Ago

_"Come at me Foxy-kun. Let's see how decent you are at taijutsu, or if you utterly suck at it. Your choice to decide right now fishcake." Anko said while snickering slightly at the enraged blonde's face. She was already in the position for Uzuken and was waiting for the enraged boy to come charging. The purple haired Jounin didn't have to wait too long before he did and boy, did he regret it. He threw a wicked right cross, only for it to be slapped upwards, entirely missing the Jounin and nailing his stomach from Anko's left fist, hitting one part of his stomach, yet affecting a wider area than where she struck. Naruto's eyes widened as he coughed up blood._

_"Come on fishcake! You can do better than that piece of shit punch you call acceptable!" she taunted, getting the same reaction: an enraged response, and a haymaker thrown only for it to be shifted to the right and jabbed again in the stomach with the same amount of 'splash' damage to the area around it. _

_"W-what the hell is that?" he coughed out, barely stopping blood from spluttering out of his mouth. _

_"That, my foxy-kun," she smiled, "Is your Uzumaki family style of fighting that your mother trained me in before she couldn't anymore." Her expression changed from a grin, to a sad smile to a terrifying scowl. She schooled her emotions, getting the typicaly Anko look, a confident smirk with nothing to worry about. "She write down how to do the style, but this is the extent of what she wrote down though."_

Beginning stance: Generic Taijutsu Stance, one side forward. Hand of the forward side up, other side low but both hands half-clenched.

Step One: Piss off the opponent at all costs.

Step Two: Let them do the first move and redirect it away then make your move and encase minute amounts of water chakra to your attack to make a sort of splash damage effect, making a slightly wider range of damage on top of the original attack.

Step three: Repeat or go into an offensive stance to push their unsteadyness.

Defensive Techniques:

Uzuken: Kyūkyoku no Bōei (Whirlpool Fist: Ultimate Defense)

Uzuken: Mizu Teirusu Hogo (Whirlpool Fist: Water Tails Protection)

Uzuken: Mizu Ondo Seigyo (Whirlpool Fist: Water Temperature Control)

_"Alright gaki..." Anko began, "Now we're going to have you practice those three moves that you looked over for defense." __All the blonde saw after he got into position was either a fist, a leg, an elbow and even an occasional knee just to throw him off for the next few hours until he finally began to throw off her attacks, but not use the water chakra portion of it._

_**XXX-XXX**_

Flashback End

The Uchiha squared off in his own family's style, The Interceptor Fist, this time waiting for his opponent to make the first move only to hear the taunting that set his blood pumping and roaring through his system.

"Come on then Uke-chan, show me what you learned so I can beat the shit out of a _pathetic_ _Uchiha._"

Naruto knew exactly what buttons to press to rile the Uchiha up to see red and he pushed them, he definitely did. With a savage growl, Sasuke assaulted Naruto with all the grace of a charging bull. The fight itself seemed almost surreal to the viewers. Naruto was either slapping away all of the punches before they reached him -ignoring any type of counterattacks he could do in retaliation-, ducking under kicks, shifting his body like a skinny tree in the wind to avoid the elbows and knees. It was a dance, almost literally for Naruto. The Uchiha threw a barrage of punches towards Naruto's head that was slapped upwards or to the side making him nearly tip over in response.

Regaining his balance, Sasuke jumped away already knowing that if he couldn't score a single hit in two minutes of ferocious volleys and barrges of attacking limbs then Taijutsu would be of no use. Naruto raised an eyebrow, watching him jump away. Wondering what he was going to do was easily solved not even moments later. Rushing through the hand-signs for the Uchiha Clan favorite, Sasuke yelled, "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Great Fireball Technique)!" A fairly decent sized fireball erupted out of his mouth towards Naruto, engulfing him in flame.

Sasuke, panting, let out a victorious smirk knowing that he had won whereas the rest of the spectators were looking on in worry for the blonde. Why did he just stay in the way of the fireball? Why didn't he-

Instantly they began hearing small amouts of steam coming from where Naruto stood before being devoured in flame. When the smoke and steam cleared, Naruto was standing in the same infernal spot with nary a burn on him, surround by a globe of water with small flecks of ice spread around it. "Gotta love the Uzuken: Kyūkyoku no Bōei (Ultimate Defense). It's so much like Kaiten from the Hyuuga, yet it has an Uzumaki style to it."

From that point, Sasuke was nearly exhausted. He had put all of his effort into the Taijutsu spar then the Katon jutsu. Now he had only enough chakra for a Kawarimi (Substitution) to execute his plan. All he had to do now was wait for the dobe to hit him. "My turn Uchiha," Naruto went through hand-signs at a quick pace, "Suiton: Suigadan (Water Fang Bullet)" He shot several low power shots of water at the boy only for when they impacted it hit a log, cracking it in places where it hit.

Nearly everyone began looking for the Uchiha until they heard a low chuckle coming from where Mei was. Everyone turned to where Mei was, just off to the right of everyone to see Sasuke tipping her to his height with a kunai to her throat. "Forfeit or..." He let the threat hang before barely jumping back to avoid snakes from Anko's Sen'eijashu (Hidden Shadow Snake Hands) only to poof into a log when Mei whirled on her feet, as if she rememberd a part of her life that was hidden in the blank recesses of it, and went through several hand-signs and shout out a ninjutsu technique.

"Yoton: Yōgan Katamari (Lava Release: Lava Globs)"

As she literally spat out great globules of lava towards the Uchiha two things were currently going through all of their minds: How dare he try to do something so underhanded and how did she do that?

They heard a snarl come from the one-eyed Jounin, "This is the last straw for him! Don't expect to see me until later tonight." Kakashi spat out, deeply offended that one of his own students went against one of his deepest and most profound beliefs. Ninja who break the rule are scum, yet Ninja who abandon their comrades are worse than scum. Whereas Mei was not particularly a comrade nor apart of them, yet she very well might be, Kakashi felt that if he would do that to her, what's to say he won't do that later on to someone weaker than himself?

"Hatake-san," Mei's shaky yet hardening voice rang out to the Jounin that was about to Shunshin (Body Flicker) to his student, "I deserve the right to help discipline him along with you. Where is he?" she all but spat out, disgusted that he had actually managed to get the drop on her regardless if part of her memories of mainly her Kunoichi career were blanked out from her.

The silver-haired Jounin studied her for all but a moment before grabbed her shoulder and taking her along with him via Shunshin leaving the rest of the two teams stupified and angered at the Uchiha.

In fact, Naruto was actually taking it relatively hard as he shouldn't have been playing around with the pompous bastard but just ended it saving Mei from nearly having her throat slit. Anko and both Saiku and Kanatsu noticed it and walked up to him, already knowing that he was starting to go through the process of blaming himself.

"Naruto-kun, it's not your fault." Anko's quiet, calm voice whispered into his ear that beckoned for attention he willingly gave, "Don't blame yourself for what you didn't know." She drew back and gave a brief, small genuine small that was one of her _true_ smiles unlike the persona's before her mask went back one, none the wiser in the group of two teams.

_'She's right Naru-kun.'_

_'If anything, his actions will be punished most severely.'_

"Now buck up or start running from my kunai," Naruto shivered at her tone before looking at the three women gratefully.

"_Arigatou_ Anko-chan, Saiku-chan, Kana-chan." he smiled at them, his thought process well broken, "We might as well get back to the house and wait for Mei-chan and Kakashi to get back."

Both Saiku and Kanatsu shared a look with each other, knowing to tell him about what they were saving for him soon.

**Okay so that was the Redone Fourth Chapter RoD. I tried to improve the character's overall including their emotions and the emotions a bit better. Tell me your thoughts on it, if you don't mind that is. =P**

**-Harem List (Some people were asking about it): **

Kanatsu, Saiku, Yugao, Kurenai, Konan, Kin, Tayuya, Anko, and Mei.

**-Ranking List (Typically, but not always, the Shinobi Rank corresponds to the Letter Rank):**

Genin: 1-10, D Rank

Chuunin: 11-25, C - B Rank

Jounin: 26-35, A - Low S Rank (Anbu would fit at around Mid to High-Jounin, typically 29-34, Tokubetsu Jounin at Low-Jounin Rank for the most part, typically 25-28)

Kage: 36-40, S - SS Rank

**-Character Ranking / Skills (Please don't freak out if you seem it's unfair. Give me a reason why and I'll go back and change it if the reason is thoughtout at least.):**

**Naruto Uzumaki:**

Ninjutsu: 3/5  
Taijutsu: 2.5/5  
Genjutsu: 1/5  
Intelligence: 3/5  
Strength: 3/5  
Speed: 2.5/5  
Stamina: 3/5  
Hand Seals: 3/5  
Total Stats: 21/40

Ranking: High-Chuunin

**Rei Takashi:**

Ninjutsu: 1/5  
Taijutsu: 2/5  
Genjutsu: 2.5/5  
Intelligence:3/5  
Strength: 1/5  
Speed: 3/5  
Stamina: 2/5  
Hand Seals: 3/5  
Total Stats: 17.5/40

Ranking: Low to Mid-Chuunin

**Shinto Takashi:**

Ninjutsu: 2/5  
Taijutsu: 3.5/5  
Genjutsu: 1/5  
Intelligence:3/5  
Strength: 3.5/5  
Speed: 3/5  
Stamina: 3/5  
Hand Seals: 1/5  
Total Stats: 20/40

Ranking: Mid to High-Chuunin

**Anko Mitarashi:**

Ninjutsu: 4/5  
Taijutsu: 4.5/5  
Genjutsu: 2/5  
Intelligence:4/5  
Strength: 3/5  
Speed: 5/5  
Stamina: 3.5/5  
Hand Seals: 4/5  
Total Stats: 30/40

Ranking: Mid-Jounin

**Yugao Uzuki:**

Ninjutsu: 4.5/5  
Taijutsu: 4/5  
Genjutsu: 2/5  
Intelligence:4/5  
Strength: 3.5/5  
Speed: 5/5  
Stamina: 4/5  
Hand Seals: 4.5/5  
Total Stats: 31.5/40

Ranking: Mid to High-Jounin

**Kakashi Hatake:**

Ninjutsu: 5/5  
Taijutsu: 3.5/5  
Genjutsu: 2/5  
Intelligence:4/5  
Strength: 4/5  
Speed: 4.5/5  
Stamina: 3.5/5  
Hand Seals: 5/5  
Total Stats: 31.5/40

Ranking: Mid to High-Jounin

**Mei Terumi:**

Ninjutsu: ?/5  
Taijutsu: ?/5  
Genjutsu: ?/5  
Intelligence:?/5  
Strength: ?/5  
Speed: ?/5  
Stamina: ?/5  
Hand Seals: ?/5  
Total Stats: ?/40

Ranking: ? (Unknown Skill Levels)

**Saiku (Kyuubi no Kitsune):**

Ninjutsu: ?/5  
Taijutsu: ?/5  
Genjutsu: ?/5  
Intelligence:?/5  
Strength: ?/5  
Speed: ?/5  
Stamina: ?/5  
Hand Seals: ?/5  
Total Stats: ?/40

Ranking: ? (Unkown Skill Levels)

**Kanatsu (Shinigami):**

Ninjutsu: ?/5  
Taijutsu: ?/5  
Genjutsu: ?/5  
Intelligence:?/5  
Strength: ?/5  
Speed: ?/5  
Stamina: ?/5  
Hand Seals: ?/5  
Total Stats: ?/40

Ranking: ? (Unkown Skill Levels)

**Hope you have a good week and don't piss anything off that holds something sharp!**

**-KuyouFox**


	5. Feelings to Address and Midget's Demise

**2/4/2013 Update: The chapter has been edited and will most likely stay as such without being rewritten for a long time, please excuse the shoddy workmanship but the next chapter on is better by far than this one in terms of writing and flowing I hope. Send me a PM or review if there are a few points that need to be changed to be fixed and I will do so. Also, excuse Anko's really shifty character in this chapter.**

**Chapter Five – Feelings to Address, and the Assassination of a Midget!**

"Well, I feel like loosening up and I'm way too damn bored right now to wait another few hours so I'm going to go train a bit." He said, having his signature grin on his face.

"Foxy-kun," Anko said getting Naruto's attention before he walked out with Saiku and Kanatsu, "I wanna have a spar with you anyways. I'm bored and I want a good Taijutsu Ninjutsu fight to pass the time. " Naruto complied with her wishes and waited for Anko before following her Shunshin (Body Flicker).

_**XXX-XXX**_

Forest Clearing

Anko, Naruto, Kanatsu, and Saiku all hit the ground of the clearing and took a look at it momentarily. It was shaped like an oval and almost as big as one of the training fields in Konoha. Add the fact that it was darkened from the taller trees that surrounding the clearing giving it a hazy look to it despite it being a little past midday, and it was the perfect place to have a spar.

Saiku hopped off of Naruto's shoulder and padded away with Kanatsu before stopping at a tree and jumping up onto a branch and turning back into their human form to watch the fight comfortably, "Good luck Na-ru-to-kuuun!" Saiku teased out making Anko somewhat jealous once again. '_Why do I feel this way to Foxy-kun? And am I really jealous of even Saiku?'_

Kanatsu however noticed it and smacked Saiku slightly with a sheathed katana that appeared in her hand and whispered, "Be more considerate of Anko here at least." Saiku's eyes widened slightly as she realized that she was making her jealous and she was still trying to figure out her feelings.

"Alright, let's do this!" Naruto said, getting into the Taijutsu stance of Uzuken (Whirlpool Fist), effectively knocking the women's thinking out of whack and back into track for the spar.

"Better get ready Foxy-kun!" Anko said, putting her trademark grin on before charging Naruto with her hands perfectly straight and fingers together for the Hebiken (Snake Fist). She began at full speed dashing towards him and began the flurry of lightning fast jabs, hard elbows, strong knees and quick kicks towards Naruto.

She began by throwing her left fist and jabbed his left shoulder only for it to be moved out of reach by Naruto's right hand knocking her off balance before dodging his uppercut. She then threw her weight into a roundhouse kick that Naruto darted under just barely and jumped away only for her to hold out her right hand and shouted, "Sen'eijashu (Hidden Shadow Snake Hand)" making numerous snakes shoot out from her trench coat sleeve from the hand she had out, to fly through the air directly to Naruto.

"Shit! Uzuken: Kyūkyoku no Bōei (Ultimate Defense)!" Naruto cursed out, forming the water chakra into an outer layer of cold water, and then freezing it with wind chakra to enhance the defensive portion of the globe of water surrounding him effectively blocking the snakes coming. His eyes widened when he saw it crack under the barrage of snakes and seeing her go through familiar hand signs. "Katon: Karyū Endan (Fire Style: Dragon Flame Bomb)_" _she said, spouting out a blistering orange flamethrower from her mouth to crack the globe of ice / water even more. Naruto quickly used Kawarimi (Substitution) with a log tree in back of Naruto and used the steam that was coming off of the ice to hide his substitution and hid his presence and jumped into a tree.

Anko's snarl on her face faded into a smirk at the ice exploded, but then the smirk vanished as the mist disappeared and Naruto was nowhere to be found. She pulled out two kunai and slowed turned, looking all around for any hint to where Naruto was at. She didn't wait long before hearing,_ "_Futon: Daitoppa (Wind Style: Great Breakthrough)" and as soon as she heard that she instantly rolled to the side avoiding the concentrated burst of wind that impacted the ground making a fairly decent sized crater. From where she saw the jutsu go off she threw one of her kunai and shouted, "Kunai Kage Bunshin (Kunai Shadow Clone)!" morphing her one kunai into fifty that hit the area where Naruto was at. She heard a light grunt and a smirk appeared on her face as Naruto appeared onto the clearing ground with a kunai sticking in his thigh panting slightly. "Damn Hebi-chan, that was a bit much." Naruto grumbled out, making Anko blush slightly before a tick mark appeared on her forehead from being called _Hebi-_chan. Even though it did feel nice to have a nickname.

"What was that Foxy-kun?" she asked in an eerie, sickly sweet voice that made Naruto slightly worried.

"Uh…" was all he got out before Anko disappeared in pure speed and was tackled to the ground by Anko with her on top of him. "Now then, what was that Na-ru-to-kun?" she said, drawing out his name as much as she could in his ear making him shiver slightly from the hot breath.

"Err, Hebi-chan?" he asked in a voice that was hoping not to get killed or worse, castrated. He watched her face lightly blush again before looking him straight in the eyes. What she did next shocked the remaining three in the clearing. The Jounin did the one thing she had been wanting to do for a long time and finally just mentally thought, _'Screw it, now's the time.'_

She darted her head forward and caught Naruto's lips with her own into a deep kiss.

Naruto's mind was running a million miles a second at that point and he froze when he felt her lips capture his before succumbing to his carnal instinct and kissing back gently while putting his arms around her waist to draw her closer. He felt her tongue lightly lick his lower lip and he moaned involuntary letting her stick her tongue in his mouth and briefly explored before being pushed back in a tongue war and somehow going back into her mouth making her gasp slightly and moan into the kiss. He explored the cavern gently making her moan all the while doing so. They pulled away two minutes later gasping for air and looking at each other thinking similar thoughts. _'His lips are rough somehow yet soft in a way and they felt good. He tasted almost like the perfect mix of dango and ramen.' She thought, still shocked that she did that.'_

_'Her lips are so soft, and sweet like the inside of her mouth. It tastes like the best kind of dango I've ever had.' _Naruto thought to himself, still in awe of how the kiss felt.

"My my gaki, you're a rather decent kisser." She teased him lightly in a low voice, "Makes me wonder how many times you've made out with Saiku or Kanatsu."

"That was my first kiss like that." He said touching his lips slightly, staring into her eyes with a small fire in them making Anko's heart soar that he didn't reject her and that he wouldn't as well.

"Thank you Naruto-kun."She replied, her eyes widening as she felt his lips lock with her own again. Anko looked into his eyes and saw almost a gentle and caring look to them that she almost dove into. They deepened the passionate kiss but he got a look at her shoulder and he stiffened slightly before looking her in the eyes again and asking her one thing that almost made her despair until she heard him.

"Do you want me to get rid of that seal for you?" At those few words, her whole world seemingly shattered for a moment as she looked at him with a dumbfounded look. Even though she had already shown him the seal, she was still shocked he would offer. He elaborated further, "I'm barely starting though it doesn't look that complica-"

He was cut off by her skeptically asking, "This isn't a joke or anything?"

"No this isn't a joke, and yes if I study up on the seal I can within a year tops." He said confidently, making her heart soar as she nodded slowly with a wide smile growing on her face. If Naruto was anything, a liar is not one of those things. "Now then, let's finish our spar, ne?" he asked her and receiving an enthusiastic nod in return.

They both got up and began their spar once again.

_**XXX-XXX**_

Saiku and Kanatsu

"Holy… crap. Anko-chan just made out with Naru-kun." Saiku gasped out, her jaw hitting the branch they were sitting on.

Kanatsu's eyes widened marginally as she continued kissing him. "Oh my..."

"Damn and I thought one of us would be the first _in-depth_ kiss that Naru-kun gave."

Kanatsu nodded and heard Naruto ask about the Anko's Cursed Seal of Heaven. "Saiku-chan," she got Saiku's attention, "We should tell Naruto about the Binding Seal soon that way he can mark the women he chooses since he will most likely be put under the CRA when it becomes public that he's the Yondaime's Son." She said, getting a shocked look in return before sighing at her partner-in-crime. She had totally forgotten about the mark they had crafted for their Naruto-kun.

_**XXX-XXX**_

Flashback - One Month Ago

"Kana-chan, I think I have it!" Saiku exclaimed out from the table across the underground lab that was one of Orochimaru's hideouts that they had found. Kanatsu immediately dashed over to Saiku and saw her intricate seal array. It was huge! It would copy the user's vitality and longevity and place it onto the recipient, effectively replacing any seal placed on the recipient. Kanatsu's eyes widened as she saw what it could do. It could take off any seal that wasn't Jinchuuriki related since it would heal the recipient to full health and cure them of any ailment but there was a drawback. If the recipient died, the user would feel a part of themselves die off, but if the user died, all the people linked to him would feel immense pain nearly making them comatose.

"It has a nasty drawback, but it'll work. Does it also allow the users to talk with each other mentally?" Kanatsu asked. Saiku shook her head negatively, before grinning and adding four flowing lines to the intricate seal array.

"Now it will!" Saiku exclaimed happily, "Now any mates Naru-kun has will be able to talk to them mentally along with us!"

"I hope Naruto-kun likes this when we finish it up some more and get it ready for actual use." Said Kanatsu with a small smile on her face.

_**XXX-XXX**_

Flashback End

"Later tonight when her talk to Mei-chan and Naruto-kun. I guess we'll have to add Anko-chan as well," Saiku quietly said before grumbling out, "His womanly friends list keeps growing and if it doesn't stop, he'll be swamped soon."

Kanatsu just laughed at her friend's antics before letting out a sigh. "I just hope we'll all be happy. I feel a change on the winds, and it won't be for the best… "She said optimistically before smiling, "Now let's watch the ass kicking that Anko will give Naruto since it seems they're just going at it with just Taijutsu now!"

_**XXX-XXX**_

Anko and Naruto

The pair now began just going at it with Taijutsu for the past half an hour and Anko was only hit once while Naruto was already hammered multiple times! _'I'm changing that now!' _Naruto thought and swore to hit her at least another few times.

Anko threw one punch to Naruto's head which he ducked under and pushed her arm up knocking her off balance. She stumbled right into his knee that he lined up with her sternum causing her to cough up some blood and bruising the whole area she was hit almost instantly, but not before she grabbed the offending limb and jabbed him point blank into both arms, hitting the nerves and numbing the whole area that was hit enough so that he couldn't use his arms for the remainder of the fight.

"Shit!" Naruto swore loudly before head butting her breaking the skin on his forehead slightly and cracking her Konoha Kunoichi headband causing her to stumble back before going on the defensive from three water tails sprouting from the base of his spine. Her eyes widened drastically at that. '_Theree t__ails already from the _Mizu Teirusu Hogo_? Kushina-sensei barely got to six before she became pregnant with you!'_

Anko then found herself dodging both the water tail's quick strikes that were also steaming to her nerve endings in her arms and legs. Her eyes widened again, he was controlling the temperature of them to cause even more damage! She had to dodge his legs that worked in conjunction with the tails perfectly. Just before he was about to strike her again with the water tails she vanished in a burst of speed put a kunai to his throat instantly and held her hand up and proudly nodded to him. "Good job Foxy-kun. You've improved enough to actually hit me multiple times in a straight taijutsu fight, and in the overall spar, you did extremely well and did your tactics fairly well. I can't wait to see how well you are when I fight you for real." She said smirking at him lightly before walking over to him. She looked up and saw that they had been sparing for over an hour easily and it was getting dark.

"*Sigh* We'd better get back Naruto-kun. Mei-san and Kakashi should be back by now."

_'Naruto-kun, we need Anko in the talk later tonight as well with us and Mei_.' Kanatsu said suddenly through the bond. '_Saiku__-chan and I will be waiting in the house in the room they gave you with Mei-chan for you two._' Kana and Saiku both jumped through the trees back to the house.

'_Alright Kana-chan! I'll see you gals there I guess_.' Naruto responded.

Anko noticed Naruto slightly daze out so she snapped her fingers in front of his face to get his attention. "You alright there Foxy-kun?" she said without her usual sadistic grin or her usual personality. She acted shyer and a bit edgier. He sighed and looked up at the sky while putting his arm around Anko and pulling her slightly closer to him.

"Yeah, I'm good. Kanatsu told me that I, Saiku, Kanatsu, Mei, are going to have a chat when I get back," he said, then looked her in the eyes when he felt her bristle slightly at not being included, "Saiku and Kanatsu want you to come as well. I don't know what it's about, but it can only be something serious." He saw her mind going ninety miles an hour and sighed once again. She looked questioningly at him. "They probably want to talk about personal stuff involving me and you four." Anko noticeably stiffened at this and looked at him with slightly betrayed eyes. "Just wait for the talk and it'll be explained. All I can say is that I'm not a pervert. Saiku is the pervert." he said, trying to lighten the mood with the last comment and he did accomplished somewhat when he saw Anko smile at it and nod.

"Alright, if that's the case then lets hurry up then and get it over with." She said and he nodded once at her before touching her shoulder and pooling chakra around the pair, he Shunshin'ed (Body Flickered) the pair of them leaving red leaves that burst into silver flames to his designated room.

_**XXX-XXX**_

Naruto, Mei, Anko, Saiku, Kanatsu, Naruto's Room

Inside the Tazuna household, everyone there was asleep, except for three people, soon to be five.

"Saiku-chan! Kanatsu-chan!" Mei's voice whispered out happily as she entered the room.

"How was torturing the arrogant bastard?" Saiku asked curiously.

"Oh nothing much, except he won't be able to father any kids." She smiled out, "I'll eventually fill you in once I'm sure of what he had injured."

"Anko-chan will be joining us as a heads up Mei-chan. Naruto is bringing her now from sparring." Said Kanatsu.

Literally as soon as she said the last word red leaves that burst into silver fire spread around the room harmlessly, with Anko and Naruto appearing in its wake. "How's it going Mei-chan?" he asked before adding, "Hurt the Uchiha punk enough so I won't have to hurt him?"

Mei just grinned at the opportunity but frowned as another thought came to mind. "I wish Naruto-kun, but if he dies won't it cause any problems since he's made the comment of being the 'last' Uchiha?" Naruto just shrugged at the question. He then looked at Kanatsu questioningly and Mei with Anko took this opportunity to look at Kanatsu as well. They all chose a spot in the room to sit down on, Naruto on the floor next to the wall and sat down on a thick rug, Saiku and Kanatsu on the bed and Mei with Anko next to Naruto as well.

"Here's why I told you guys to come here for a talk. There's two reasons, but let me get this reason out entirely BEFORE you start talking. Please let me finish and it will make sense." Kanatsu begged, while looking at Anko and Mei. They slowly nodded before taking a glance over at Naruto. His face was entirely blank for once. The two women turned their eyes back to Kanatsu showing that they're ready.

"Okay, so Anko already knows this one from when we told her, Shinto and Rei but... I'm the Shinigami and Saiku is the Kyuubi," Mei's eyes widened imperceptibly and she opened her mouth, but closed it again like a fish out of water. "The reason we're with Naruto is because when he was younger he had Saiku sealed into him, but his father, the Yondaime made a mistake and it sucked the next closest entity along with Saiku which was me. We eventually met each other when Naruto was twelve and from there he tore off a portion of the seal allowing us to have a physical manifestation outside of the seal, but a good portion of our power is still sealed in Naruto. Right now, I can only fight at 5%, and Saiku can fight at around 10%. Just that power alone is around the one-tailed bijuu, Shukaku."

She took a deep breath and saw their awe struck looks and shocked expressions. Even Naruto was shocked that they were so powerful even with the greater majority of their power sealed within him. "Since my seal can't be broken without the user dying, we will never gain our powers back for most likely a long time. But, Naruto-kun eventually will be able to use some of that sealed power but that is neither here nor now. Now the reason we called you two in here is, me and Saiku both know you two have some type of feelings for Naruto just like us, and Naruto has feelings for you two as well. The reason we're doing this is because since Naruto-kun is the Yondaime's son, he will eventually be forced under the CRA or Clan Restoration Act with random women unless he actually chooses them within a certain period of time." She took another breath as she saw shock just roll through their faces.

Saiku began from here and picked up before they could say catch themselves on talking before they were done. "We made a seal that we call the Bonding Seal that would effectively bond the user and the recipient to share the user's longevity which in this case would mean you would live as long as them and to also be able to mentally talk to the users along with any other recipient, and it would totally cure you of any ailment at the time of use which includes restoring memories and destroying any seals that aren't Jinchuuriki involved which we made sure of. The downside to it is if you guys die, Naruto here would feel as if a part of his soul was shattered and the pain would be unimaginable. If he died, you guys would feel enough pain to rival all the injuries in your life and more which would possibly kill you. But, if you for whatever reason want to leave us, we can take the seal off with no drawbacks." She took a deep breath and nodded to show that they were done for the most part. Naruto, Anko and Mei were all shocked beyond belief.

"So wait, this will basically link us with Naruto-kun and we'll share a mental bond right? And it would take off any current seals like the one that's on my shoulder and it would restore Mei-chan's memories?" Anko asked incredulously. "If that's true then why not, then I'll do it. Regardless if it'll take the seal off or not, I honestly care for him right now and I'd like all of his women that he likes and they like him, equally… I have no problem." Anko concluded, beaming at the fact that someone would want to be with her and even get rid of her seal.

Mei was slightly hesitant about it. "There's no ulterior motive for this?" she wondered out loud gaining negative shakes of everyone's head, including Anko as well. "Naruto-kun was the one to call for help, and he's been nothing but helpful for me… I guess I can. If I can regain my memories even at a steady pace and can stay with Naruto-kun then I'm down for it." She then looked at him directly and said with that damnable sickly sweet smile plastered on her face, "Do not become a pervert." Everyone laughed at this, even Naruto although it was a kind of, 'Please don't kill me' sort of chuckle.

They all calmed down some and the pair of women looked at the two goddesses and saw them pull out one of the most complex and intricate seal arrays that anyone could imagine from Kanatsu's kimono. "Naruto-kun, you're going to have to draw it onto them… and it's going to have to be in either two places. The back of their left shoulder, or their chest." She said with a blank face eyes full of mirth however, while Saiku laughing her ass off silently. Naruto's face became brick red along with nearly all of his neck. Mei and Anko however were contemplating where the Bonding Seal should be at.

Anko pointed to the point on her left shoulder where her current seal is at from Orochimaru and Mei on the other hand… she just smiled like a Cheshire cat and pointed to her chest. What happened to the quiet, hurt woman that he saved not two days ago?!

Naruto eyes widened in shock before looking at her and asking, "Are you serious?" He saw her nod with the same Cheshire cat grin on her face. He got up and grabbed the two seal arrays from Saiku and Kanatsu, still looking brick red all over his face and walked back over to Mei and Anko. Naruto unsealed two ink bottles and his finest seal drawing pen.

"Are you two ready?" he asked. They both nodded and he took one of the seals and looked at Anko. "Hebi-chan, I need you to take off you trench coat." She nodded, and took it off, only showing a mesh shirt that was see through all the way to the bra. He blushed once again before copying down the intricate seal onto Anko's **Cursed Seal of Heaven** and asked once again, "Are you sure?"

"Just hurry the hell up Foxy-kun!" she said irritably. He nodded once and drew forth his chakra and mumbled,"Fūin (Seal)!" and watched as the seal he drew circled around Anko's neck and the Cursed Seal of Heaven faded away after pulsing black and red making Anko twitch and make her eyes tear up in pain before moaning in almost rapture when it disappeared. Then the Bonding Seal began forming on her left shoulder, covering where the seal had been and pulsed in a silvery red light before fading away leaving behind a seemingly violet kit that was curled up with ten tails covering its body like a blanket almost. Naruto felt a sudden drop in his Chakra from putting the seal onto Anko.

"So, how do you feel Hebi-chan?" Naruto asked hesitantly, getting Anko's attention. She had an almost glazed expression in her eyes before she snapped to attention and glomped Naruto mumbling "Thank you... thank you… thank you…" over and over again.

_'Hebi-chan, can you hear me?' _Naruto mentally asked Anko. She looked curiously at him and nodded once before passing out shocking everyone there. Kanatsu and Saiku immediately jumped to attention and did a look over on her and sighed in relief. "She only passed out because of shock and exhaustion." Kanatsu said relief evident in her voice before going to sit down in her previous spot while dragging Anko with her to the bed.

"Yep! She's perfectly fine. I can even feel her presence like I do with Naru-kun and Kana-chan!" Saiku added before going to sit back down with Kanatsu and Anko.

Naruto then took a look at Mei before asking, "Are you ready Mei-chan?" making her blush at the added honorific to her name. She nodded once before pulling her dress and fishnet bodysuit down slightly so Naruto could easily get to put a seal where she motioned to. It was just a coincidence that it showed most of her cleavage except for the middle half down. He blushed slightly before thinking, _At least it isn't on her breast…_ making Anko twitch slightly in her sleep and for the two goddesses to giggle at him. Naruto began to copy down the intricate seal and began to memorize it for personal use. He finally finished about ten minutes later, taking much longer on this seal since he had to even the proportions out since the seal curved onto her breasts slightly and rested, for the most part, straight onto where her heart was at. Naruto saw Mei nod once when he took a look at her and put his right hand onto the middle of the seal and said, "Fūin**!**" for the second time that night and watched how the process was different this time. This time there was slight tendrils going straight towards Mei's head and glowed a dark forest green color, before shifted to a white haze. When the haze blinked out of existence and the tendrils extended back down to the seal where the same image of a kit with ten tails appearing, of an auburn color that matched her hair almost perfectly.

Mei audibly gasped once before grabbing her head once and passing out. Saiku rushed over first and gave her a look over and made a sigh of relief. "Mei-chan's alright, and we now know that the seal will attack the main problem that ails their body first before coming back to the original point of the seal and creating the image before they pass out…" she said trailing off with a thoughtful expression. She shrugged and said, "Who cares! It works and we can feel their presence in our minds which means a success!" making the other two conscious people in the room sweatdrop slightly.

Naruto stood up, however he staggered and fell back down looking slightly confused. "What the… "He wondered out loud before checking his chakra levels and making him raise his eyebrows in shock. They were even bigger now but nearly drained fully! He was easily at mid jounin level chakra and Naruto was previously at a low jounin level. Saiku and Kanatsu both laughed before snapping their fingers and putting the four women in a nightgown each with the same colors as before, but with Anko they had it as a vibrant shade of purple.

They got up slowly and walked over to him, swaying their hips enticingly and whispered into his ear huskily, "Time for bed Naru-kun / Kitsune-kun." They dragged him over to the bed and threw him in the middle before stopping for a moment and thinking.

"Should we?" asked Kanatsu with a slight smile on her face.

"We should." Saiku replied, and the two of them shifted Mei and Anko over for them to claim an arm each, which they both clung to almost immediately and snuggled up to his warm body. Saiku and Kanatsu both giggled teasingly once again before claiming a part of his chest and laid down on him, falling asleep rather quickly after pecking him on the lips. For once, he didn't blush badly.

Naruto smiled. He had never felt so warm nor complete in his life with the four of them there around him. _'I think I can get used to this…' _he thought before giving a quick kiss to the forehead to each woman on him and fell asleep.

**_XXX-XXX_**

Time Skip - Four Days, Return Back Home

_'Wow, so much has happened since the night with the Bonding Seal.' _Naruto thought, remembering all that's happened over the past four days while remaining relatively silent jumping through the trees with his group and watching Saiku and Anko tease and taunt each other back. _'There's been the Assassination of Gato we did… Kami-sama he was pathetic from what Saiku told us. Well, at least Mei-chan got some practice and got back into the groove of being a ninja. Damn that really was a shocker finding she had two bloodlines.' _Naruto's mouth scowled as he remembered that incident of infiltrating and assassinating Gato.

_**XXX-XXX**_

Flashback - Two Days Ago, Gato's Mansion

Anko's team, including Mei, Saiku, and Kanatsu were at the forest just before Gato's mansion and by Kami it was HUGE **(A/N: I'm not going to bother describing it seeing as how your own ideas would fit it better)**. The mansion had an unsettling look to it in the night that the group decided to use. Anko motioned forward and spoke in a low voice, "We're going in as pairs of two with the exception of one group. Shinto, Rei, and Kanatsu go together and go underground with your earth affinity and check the cellars and possible dungeons. Clear upwards and knock any person out you find in those areas for interrogation. Naruto and Mei go together and go from the roof and take out the sentries that are posted there and go down from there. Take no prisoners. Me and Saiku will go from the open ledge window and go for Gato's office and his room afterwards. Keep in mental contact if at all possible and constantly inform when you've cleared out a level." Seeing everyone nod, she nodded herself and said one more piece of advice, "Seal anything that's useful and don't die. Go!"

The groups jumped away quickly to their assigned areas, Naruto and Mei using the shadows with Anko and Saiku before splitting off and taking the backside of the Mansion's roof, which was leveled off and flat with the walls raised around it giving it an almost secluded air to it. Mei took the initiative and ran up the wall of the mansion to get to the roof whereas Naruto decided to create a Kage Bunshin up on the roof where the patrol just passed from what he could hear from the shuffling of boots on the floor of the area, and Kawarimi'ed with it to get on top of the Mansion quicker. Naruto quickly went to the shadows and took a look around to take in the surroundings. The roof had a door going down to the lower levels, and a rather large corpse of trees that obscured the sight from opposite sides of it with sentries all around the area. Naruto narrowed his eyes and counted them all. There was around twenty four, with each of them having either a katana or a ninjato. He drew Shi no Ibuki and quickly dispatched the upcoming patrol coming right near his position in the shadows. Twenty-two left.

Naruto then sensed Mei coming up the wall and there were four of them there. He quickly swore mentally and informed Mei to the situation,_ 'Tenshi (Angel)-chan,' _she raised an eyebrow and blushed slightly at the nickname, _'there's four sentries where you're coming up from, and about eighteen more spread out around the roof with either a Katana or a Ninjato. None of them have any more than academy student level chakra.' _

Mei nodded knowing he was right. _'Thanks Naru-kun,' _she mentally thought to him and quietly spoke, "Yoton: Yōgan Katamari (Lava Globs)" and shot off four lava globs, effectively crippling one sentries' legs permanently making him pass out from the pain, and killed the other three instantly on impact. Naruto then rushed over to her quickly before going back to the shadows with Mei. _'Naru-kun, try finding any possible obstacles that'll give us any difficulties that we could have in the Mansion. I'll handle the rest of the patrols myself.' _Mei said to Naruto, who nodded in acceptance and sat down and closed his eyes with two Kage Bunshinand a Mizu Bunshin (Water Clone) from Mei and himself for guard duty while he tries to find anything that could be troublesome for them.

Mei wasted no time and began running silently around the different patrols and the half asleep guards. She dispatched them easily and efficiently, only for when she got to the last one to scream out, "INTRU-" before he had his neck snapped from a well placed kick to the left side of his head from Mei. _'Well, I hope that didn't alert anyone on the lower levels' _she thought as she walked over to Naruto before asking him_, 'Anything to worry about Naru-kun?' _

Naruto shrugged and cracked his neck and knuckles before responding. _'EVERYONE,' _He mentally shouted to get each of the three group's attentions momentarily and it worked as they stopped what they were doing,_' there are three low to mid jounin level chakra sources, and about thirty at around chuunin level. The chuunin are spread out all around the place, so be on guard, and the three jounin are spread out, one at the top, one in the underground areas, and the last one is where I'd assume Gato's office to be at, around the middle of the Mansion. So they're all around where your groups are at and…' _since he was still trying to sense out the Mansion he felt the Jounin's position shift rapidly as they began converging on the separate teams with reinforcements, _'Oh no... One of jounin is coming to each one of you guys with eight to ten chuunin each!' _and with that they all prepped for the battle that was going to occur.

_**XXX-XXX**_

Shinto, Rei, and Kanatsu (Ten Minutes Ago)

Shinto and Rei split off and began by tunneling a hole in the shadow of a rather large tree that was overlooking the mansion and was rather close enough to avoid any unnecessary chakra consumption. It would fit all three of them one by one and began their descent into the underground areas of the Mansion. Once the initial hole was made, Shinto took the lead continued the hold with Kanatsu following and Rei taking up the rear while reshaping the dirt and clay like ground back to its original place.

Soon Shinto stopped and held up his hand and whispered to his group, "Since we're within like twenty meters of a rather cavernous room that I can feel from using the earth affinity, can you try to sense out if there's anyone close to us nee-chan?" Rei nodded before Kanatsu shook her head negatively.

"No need, I can do it in a few seconds if we're just needing to find out anyone that's near us and it'll save a lot of needed time." She said, stopping Rei whom had a grateful look on her face, and got nods from the brother and sister. She closed concentrated for around ten seconds before opening her eyes again. "There are ten people in the room right in front of us that are thugs from how much chakra they have surrounding another person who has civilian levels of chakra but it's nearly extinguished. Never mind... the person is now dead, we must be in the interrogation rooms or something like it…" she said mumbling out the last part much to the slight rage of the two. Another dead due to Gato…

"Let's hurry up then" Shinto whispered out before using his earth affinity to trail through the rest of the hole to find a man surrounded by thugs with numerous bloody weapons ranging from morning stars, katana, ninjato, and just plain kitchen knives in a rather bland large room with only a single light in it that was flickering on and off with only a broken down table and chair with chains on it that the now dead man was currently occupying.

Shinto quietly got out of the hole with Rei and Kanatsu following him before Rei sealed the hole quickly and jumped ahead of Shinto and threw shuriken that she had sealed onto her wrist and dispatched all ten of them within five seconds of throwing them all. She walked over to check the man's cause of death while Shinto and Kanatsu walked over to the only door there. Kanatsu tapped Shinto's shoulder and signed with her hands in a code that Anko had taught them. 'Three outside the room, two on right one to the left. I'll take the left.' She signed to him and watched him nod before kicking the door down to find a stairway that went up many floors before dashing to the two unsuspecting thieves that worked for Gato and sliced their throats with one slash with her sword, Shisha no Katsuryoku-gen (Lifeblood of the Dead). It had a look that was exactly like Shi no Ibuki except for the fact that it had a silver mist hanging on it that radiated coldness and death that could easily drive someone mad if they didn't have a strong will whenever unsheathed, whereas Shi no Ibuki would only show an illusion of the enemies' worst possible fear and the death of themselves that could be done to them. It was literally the sister sword to Shi no Ibuki.

She nodded once before hearing a squelching sound and looked to find Shinto had thrust his zanbatou into the remaining guard / thug for him to yell out, "HEL-" before Shinto forcefully grabbed his mouth and shut it before twisting the zanbatou ruthlessly, effectively ending his life. They shared one nod as Rei came out without even sparing a single glance to the dead men just in front of her before nodding. 'Let's finish this.' She signed to them as they all began running up the narrow, long staircase before Kanatsu heard Naruto's mental shout to them. She immediately put a hand on each shoulder of her teammates, effectively stopping them. "We have one jounin and seven chuunin coming for us." she said before drawing Shisha no Katsuryoku-gen with a fierce expression on her face. Rei and Shinto nodded thankfully and formed chakra scalpels for one and getting into the Taijutsu / Kenjutsu stance for multiple enemies that the Takashi clan used. "I'll deal with the jounin, you two deal with the chuunin." Kanatsu said before they heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps as the sound became closer and closer.

_**XXX-XXX**_

Anko and Saiku (Ten Minutes Ago)

The two women, Anko and Saiku, split off from Naruto and Mei and found the window they would jump into. They both looked once at each other and with mental thought of _'Ready' _from both, the pair ran up the wall quickly and into the room that looked like what would be expected of a regular office with even a painting in it that showed a little midget atop a mountain of bloody and dismembered corpses. The woman rolled their eyes and sighed at the painting as they saw it. Thankfully were no men in, but there would be soon if the footsteps had any indication of it. Anko quickly looked at Saiku._ 'I hear four coming,'_

Saiku shook her head lightly. _'Five.' _Anko rolled her eyes and nodded once again as they took positions right next to the door, Saiku hiding right in the shadow next to the door with a kunai in each hand, and Anko on the ceiling with four kunai drawn with two in each hand. Half a minute passed before they could hear the group's talking. "Haha! Of course Gato is an ass!"

"Dude, shut up! He can have anyone looking out and watching for people saying that shit." Another said as they opened the door only to be slaughtered with the rest of the group from a kunai thrown from the ceiling to four of them and another to be jabbed in the heart with another from Saiku. It was over in two seconds, and there wasn't a sound except for the bodies hitting the floor. The pair took the bodies and stuffed them into the closet that was in the office and began ripping through anything useful.

Apparently this was Gato's office and from the numerous papers, it was all of his business and his plans of this land including a betrayal of Zabuza and his apprentice Haku. Anko raised an eyebrow lightly at that last paper with the plan of betraying Zabuza. She looked up to Saiku. _'Let's get outa here pronto! With this info alone we can get Zabuza to not fight us, and with Gato's head it'll be ensured. Now let's deal with killing the fugly midget already.'_ Saiku giggling silently before shaking her head in a positive way as they began their movement through the current floor they were on to find the bedroom, only to hear Naruto's warning clearly. Saiku and Anko immediately grinned sadistically and took a position in the open hallway with their backs facing each other as they were surrounded.

"Well, since we don't have to worry about having been heard, ready to kick some ass Ku-chan?" asked Anko in a rather insane tone she reserved for her enemies. It worked as all of them except the jounin, were sufficiently cowed already.

Saiku nodded and had a sickly sweet smile on her face. "Oh yes Anko-chan. I say we play with the jounin and leave some clones to deal with the trash." She said, taking a good look at the jounin. She grinned even more when she noticed it was a female jounin, which had brownish hair that was in a ponytail and stood at a rather tall height of 6' even with even skimpier clothing than Anko herself!

The pair quickly made their clones; Anko made two Kage Bunshin and Saiku had crafted one clone that she powered with her Yokai. She called it a Yokai Bunshin**.** The three rushed to chuunin and began slaughtering them one by one, but slowly making their dread and fear rise when they appeared next to each one and seemingly vanished to the next in spurts of speed.

"Don't treat me lightly you damn whores!" the jounin roared out and charged them with the intent to kill, drawing a standard issue katana. It began to have a glowing blue haze surrounding it and Anko's eyes narrowed.

"Whore? Look whose talking slut! You're wearing even skimpier clothes than I am!" Anko shouted while trying to get a rise out of the jounin. It worked, and it worked well with Saiku snickering in the background. The jounin roared with indignation and began attempting to slash her with the katana she had. _'Huh, smart idea Anko-chan" _Saiku mentally said to Anko as she was dodging the katana slashes with apparent ease, but in reality, it was extremely close. _'Getting her to become pissed was a smart idea. Oh, ouch! That's gotta hurt.' _She said, watching Anko get a light gash on her right thigh.

"Saiku! Get your ass to help me here and stop playing mental commentary!" Anko roared out making Saiku grin.

"Finally, some fun! Katon: Karyū Endan!" was what the Jounin heard before immediately jumping away as fast as she could away from the roaring flames from Saiku whom had just appeared next to Anko.

The jounin immediately yelled, "Chuunin! Get your asses in gear already!" before hearing snickering.

"You're teammates are now dead." The pair said while pointing in the Chuunin's direction making despair start to show on her face if only slightly. They were all dead and massacred with all three clones still active.

She then grinned and rushed them again with a sort of resigned look to her eyes, "If I'm going to die, then I might as well do it with a bloody well bright flare!" Anko grinned and rushed against her with two kunai, one in each hand and began trading blows with the jounin. Saiku sighed and walked into Gato's bedroom and a kunai in hand and saw the little midget still woefully asleep. _'Eh, might as well kill the bastard now.' _Shrugging her shoulders she walked up to him. _'Hmm, I'll play with him slightly and see if I can't get anything from him. 'And_ with a bloodthirsty grin she woke Gato up.

He awoke with a start and was about to berate the person who had awoken him from his sleep before his jaw dropped. He took a good look over the drop dead gorgeous woman, but somehow missed looking at her face, in front of him and his eyes just stuck to her chest. Gato made a rather lecherous sound making her clear her throat. Gato looked up and gulped as he became white as a sheet. "**Where do you hide your valuables, or you WILL die?" **he heard her ask in a tone that asked – no – demanded to be answered.

Shaking lightly in his bed as he tried to edge away from her slowly, "I-In m-my off-office be-behind the p-painting, JUST DON'T KILL ME!" he yelled as he saw her begin to finger her kunai.

"Thank you, and have a good life," she said as she left the room. Gato breathed a sigh of relief before she stuck her head back into the room and added, "See you in hell!" before throwing her kunai at his forehead with a flick of her wrist. Saiku quickly ran back in and sealed the head of Gato's corpse into a scroll that Anko had given her earlier.

Anko then walked in, limping slightly, but still walking as she looked at the beheaded corpse with Saiku over it with a scroll in her hands. "Well, since our mission is over, let's get out of here already since the clones are dealing with getting anything valuable out of here!" the purple haired woman exclaimed happily as she walked out with Saiku before hearing a loud explosion go off from somewhere close to the roof and pain blossomed through their shared bond. They shared a look before rushing up there, worry nearly breaking their now blank expressions.

_**XXX-XXX**_

Kanatsu, Rei, and Shinto

A rather dark voice drifted down the stairs and the body that it belonged to soon followed. "My my, who could possibly be here in the dead of night, hmm?" he asked questioningly while taking a look at the group of three with the chuunin behind him. He smiled lecherously as he stared at Kanatsu. "Such a pretty lady with such a nice body. I hope I won't have to kill you because I do so hate having fun with corpses." At this Kanatsu was pissed beyond belief. No one would DARE say that to her and live!

Shinto and Rei on the other hand looked rather nervous, apprehensive and rather pissed. The look on her face was that akin to a god about to go on a rampage. They backed up slowly as the haze around Shisha no Katsuryoku-gen and it was clogging up and making the air around the two groups seem as if hell was freezing over. She glared at them with the damnable sickly sweet smile and said in a fuming tone, "I think I will kill you, and then use your corpse to kill your own teammates." Just the tone made him flinch and he automatically knew that she meant business.

"I honestly doubt yo-"Was all he said before she reigned in her emotions at least outwardly, seemingly vanished, and stabbed him once in the stomach and, said while the blade was still embedded in his gut, "Tamashī no Sōsa: Tamashī to Karada no Kontorōru (Soul Manipulation: Soul and Body Control)"At that, he looked like he had died and he had, only to finally twitch and look up with a dead look in his eyes. Kanatsu sighed and pointed to the chuunin and said, "Assist Shinto and Rei in killing your previous partners." The brother and sister combo finally shook off their shock when Kanatsu had mentioned them and they shared a look before charging the now stock still and scared to hell chuunin. What could be said from there… was to be honest, a small massacre but a massacre nonetheless. Shinto was cleaving them in half in one swing easily, Rei decapitated them with flicks of her wrist from the scalpels and the animated jounin that Kanatsu now controlled was throwing kunai from his kunai pouch at the last one remaining before he had any chance.

Kanatsu nodded once towards the pair in a proud manner before taking their weapons and anything valuable on their persons before hearing a rather deafening explosion coming from the top of the roof with pain spiking through the bond. Her eyes narrowed as Shinto and Rei looked up confused before she said in six simple words, "Naruto and Mei are in trouble…" before seemingly vanished as she ran up the stairs. Kanatsu however left a Yokai Bunshin behind for them to follow as those six words kicked Rei and Shinto into gear. They began to run up the stairway as fast as they could to get to the pair on the roof with one collective thought. _'Don't be hurt you two… ' _

_**XXX-XXX**_

Naruto and Mei

Naruto and Mei both backed up from the door quickly and sealed the door to give themselves more time in preparing. After one "Yoton: Yōgan Katamari" from Mei and a "Suiton: Suigadan (Water Style: Water Fang Bullet) from Naruto to speed up the hardening of the lava globs on the door they decided to back up onto the opposite side of the roof onto a shed like building with a clear overlook of the surrounding area, and a clear shot to the doorway that showed the lower levels of the Mansion.

Naruto took a look to Mei and got her attention. "The the jounin's there, but he seems to be hanging in the back of them all." She nodded once in agreement.

"Watch how to really smoke them out. And if you ever get me pissed, I'll do this to you," she said teasingly making him pale when she jumped to the now cracking, hardened lava and went through a good number of hand signs and said, "Futton: Suchīmukuraudo (Boil Style: Steam Cloud)" What happened next was utter amazement to Naruto as he had no idea she had not one but TWO bloodlines. _'I guess getting your memories back was a definite bonus for you huh, Mei-chan?' _he mentally asked as he watched the doorway and arch that held it was melted, including the shinobi inside from the cloud slipping in through the doorway.

_'Of course, but being with you is better,'_ she said gratefully to him as he ran over to her. As soon as Naruto reached Mei however, he felt something extremely off and immediately grabbed her and covered her with his body only for an explosion to occur right where the doorway was. Naruto grunted loudly as flaming hot pieces of wood and metal stuck into his back. Mei gasped she felt the vibrations when he got pelted by the shrapnel hitting him and immediately got him up and got him far away from the explosion as possible on the roof only for Saiku and Anko to pop up almost instantly followed by Rei, Kanatsu and Shinto.

Their eyes widened as they took a look at his back from the ruined shirt he always wore. It was littered with impact wounds and punctures everywhere on his back from the wood and metal shrapnel. Rei shook off her shock and helped the process speed up, carefully taking out the shrapnel and helping his wounds close up, getting both thankful and grateful nods.

At that moment however, they were bombarded by the clones that Anko and Saiku had set off into the house and pilfered anything valuable from the house into the scrolls, containing anything from money, to weapons, to important paperwork. "Well, since foxy-kun here is the only one injured and he's pretty much healed but not off of his lazy ass… *cue sweat drops and face faults*What?" she asked innocently making them all chuckle at her expense.

"Since we're all done laughing at Anko-chan here, let's get out of here." Kanatsu said much to the amusement of the group.

"Good! I wanted to burn this shithole of a place for a while now!" Saiku exclaimed happily only for it to be dashed short as Rei had said.

"Umm, this should be used as the Mayor's office or house of Wave country ya'kno. "

"Damn it all to hell! Oh wait, I am from hell sooo…. Not damn it to hell!" she said rolling her eyes making everyone laugh once again as they took off back to Tazuna's house, Shinto carrying Naruto over his back.

_**XXX-XXX**_

End Flashback

_'Hmm, at least we got our mission done of assassinating Gato. Kakashi should be able to handle it from there with the documents we gave him about Gato's plan to betray Zabuza-san and Haku-san.'_ Naruto thought silently much to the amusement of the people sharing the bond with each other.

'_If he couldn't do that, then he should be a damn chuunin again.' _Anko thought inducing soft chuckles throughout them all.

_'Well, when we get back I'm checking out this wind scroll I got from him. I already took a bit of a look into it and it had an amazing offensive and even defensive jutsu called _Futon no Yoroi (Wind Armor)_' _he thought happily.

_'Make sure you go through as much as you can, because if I remember right the Chuunin exams are in seven days.' _Kanatsu reminded him.

_'Ooh ooh, does that mean we get to play around with play with the genin in the exams when the exam comes around?!" _Saiku asked with a little too enthusiasm making everyone subtly move away from her. Unluckily, Naruto couldn't since she was in her fox form on his neck with a disturbing gleam in those beady eyes, much to everyone's amusement once again.

_**XXX-XXX**_

Time Skip - Seven Hours, Konoha Gates

"I still can't understand why we couldn't see Sasuke-teme again." Shinto grumbled to the now walking group of seven with Saiku and Kanatsu in their respective animal forms of course.

"Maybe it's because he was avoiding Mei like the plague." Naruto snickered before turning his attention to Mei, "What _did_ you do to him that scared him so much?"

The auburn haired woman grinned in remembrance, "Why, I had Kakashi put him under a genjutsu that made Sasuke watch a yaoi sex scene, but not before slowing breaking every bone in his left arm, dislocating his right shoulder and burning his crotch with a Yoton: Yōgan Katamari." Naruto and Shinto both shivered at the thought of lava globs hitting where it counts. "Oh, and Kakashi did his own version of torture... err, sparring."

"Well then, let's get to Sarutobi-san and sign up for the Chuunin exams along with reporting in for our mission." Kanatsu said, getting nods of agreement in return.

* * *

**Okay, so how was the chapter? Probably not as great at it could've been, but still, review and tell me if it's any good at all.**

**Have a good one, and tell me your thoughts on this chapter!**


	6. Jounin Test

**Well, I'm finally back for another chapter of Rise of Demons! **

**Sorry it took so long haha. I just got back into World of Warcraft, my main computer screwed up and lost all of my Harry Potter story progress so this story will be getting more attention and... know what? Screw my lame excuses and reasons, let's just get to the story but first a little A/N.**

**Now, I know that on the Ranking List that I set up, I somewhat screw up on it. Go ahead and check back on it for a better overview of it. I basically changed it to the WikiNaruto one but the basic areas of their skill are the same.**

**Another question a reader had and a few others via PM, Anko being taught by Kushina yet also apprenticing under Orochimaru. Anko was taught by Kushina, a Jounin Sensei, when she was 10. Anko was also teammates with Yugao but that will be broached upon later on. Now then, going by ****_my_**** story's ages, Kushina is beginning to get pregnant with Naruto and rather bloated after about six months. From there, Kushina couldn't do much to teach so Anko began an apprenticeship with Orochimaru at 11. Kushina still helped a little like giving hints and useful tips, but nothing more than that. She also was not in the village during the Kyuubi event as she left with Orochimaru just a short time beforehand, about a week. (Also, check the newly redone chapter two. It's somewhat answer but not to this extent here.)**

**I hope those responses answered your questions and possible future questions.**

**_Chapters One, Two and Three have all been redone, Chapter One having been more of a rewrite but it still contains the same content more or less with only a few parts changing_. Check it out if you'd like and tell me via PM if they're any better. Before anyone asks however, Sasuke and Sakura will more or less be the same as the duo need a big wake up call before they can change, they have been toned down somewhat though. They will... eventually begin to redeem themselves in the eyes of Team 11 + one, or is it two now? Meh, details haha!**

**I would also like to give a shoutout to my good friend ****Inu**-**shommaru, who without his help, I probably wouldn't have gotten this chapter out so quick. He really is a good author to bounce ideas off of, and he knows his stuff as an author so I'd recommend you to check out his story Aono's Kaleidescope, a Rosario + Vampire story with a Naruto cross with it.**

**Oh, by the way, I will occasionally refer to Naruto as blonde so don't flip a lid, okay?**

**Now then, you've read my blabberings too much and are probably thinking, 'Shut up and get on with it!' I'll end this overly long A/N.**

**In that case, enjoy!**

**Chapter 6 - Beginnings of the Chuunin Exams**

Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed in exasperation. The mission itself that Team 11 undertook was a success in regards to completing the objective, but in other regards... maybe not the best of outcomes came from them.

"Did you really have to throw lava globs at his... private area? I'll have to spend a good hour explaining the situation and I'd rather spend it doing something else." He whined almost piteously before turning serious. "Mei-san, this can be potentially dangerous to you if the council finds out that _you _have not one but two bloodlines. I can turn them away from you this time and say that there was a ninja with the Lava Release but be wary in the future."

He received gratifying looks and smiles from Team 11 and Mei.

"Hokage-sama, I have a question." Mei began. Sarutobi nodded for her to continue, "Would it be possible for me to join the village as a Kunoichi?"

The Hokage pondered his choices only for a brief moment, "Of course, but we will need to test what rank you'll be. Although from what I know already, you should be able to become a Jounin easily enough."

A sigh of relief swept through the room at Sarutobi's words. He mirthfully smiled, "Did you all really expect me to not let her in?"

"Yea, pretty much." Anko replied with a grin.

Sarutobi just sighed at the purple haired Jounin before growing a wide smile and turning his attention to Naruto, "Now then, I believe that your apartment is a bit too small Naruto. Especially with your current company." Sarutobi winked knowingly at the now blushing blonde. However, before Sarutobi could begin listing off several places for them to live at, Anko piped in.

"My apartment block is large enough plus there's only Nai-chan that lives in that area with me. They could just bunk in my place or one of the apartments that aren't being used there."

Sarutobi mulled it over for a few moments and studied the group as a whole as well as individually. Naruto was somewhat serious and almost excited, making Sarutobi bite back a chuckle for the meantime. Naruto always would be the same to the Hokage, no matter how much he matured.

The brother and sister duo seemed marginally shocked, with Rei hiding the shock much more effectively than her brother but shocked none the less.

Saiku and Kanatsu took in Anko's interjection and sat -or laid down in Saiku's case- calmly without any objections, not that they would have any though.

Mei seemed to be taking the suggestion in stride with nary a blush, nor showing any emotion like a hardened shinobi that raised a question in Sarutobi's mind: Just what exactly had she gone through to make her act like a hardened shinobi? The only thing he could possibly infer from the situation and the circumstance in which Mei joined them, was that she was from Mizu no Kuni, or more specifically, around Kirigakure where the Bloodline war was occuring. Sarutobi had heard something about it, but had nothing to go on it.

"I believe that would be just fine." Sarutobi agreed with a smile. "Before you leave, I do believe that you might need to sign the Chuunin Exam papers."

"Right, thanks oji-san!" Naruto exclaimed with his trademark vulpine smile.

Sarutobi smiled at his surrogate grandchild, "Of course Naruto-kun."

While the three genin of Team 11 were signing their papers the Hokage turned to Mei, "Mei-san, for your test, go to the stadium at noon in two days. You'll be fighting two Jounin, one of your choice and the other by mine. Based on the fight I'll be able to adequately determine your skill level and assign your rank appropriately."

Mei nodded, seeing how the test would be able to test her abilities fully, "That sounds fine to me Hokage-sama."

"Then it's settled," Sarutobi smiled, "I'll see you in two days at the stadium." And with that, the group left after Naruto, Rei and Shinto all turned in their Chuunin Exam papers. Sarutobi sighed, it seemed everytime he was about to give Naruto a chance to give him his family's home, something always popped up or preoccupied the Hokage. _'Maybe I should just wait until he's older like Minato and Kushina's wished.'_

**XXX-XXX**

Shinto and Rei both waved goodbye to the rest of the group and went to their home. "Well," Naruto yawned loudly, "I'm half asleep so let's get to our new home." His statement was met with much enthusiasm as everyone was tired in some degree from the nonstop run to Konoha from Wave Country.

Anko turned back and grinned to the remains of the group, "Well then, follow me and don't fall behind!" With that, Anko sprinted over the rooftops at a quick speed with Kanatsu and Mei following, Naruto and Saiku just behind them.

Within a few minutes a decent sized apartment block came into view along with Anko patiently waiting for the four to get there. "Took you long enough." the purple haired Jounin grumbled out.

Naruto shot back, "It'd help if you didn't just dash over here when the rest of us are dead tired!"

"Foxy-kun, you're the most tired out of all of us. The rest of us are only slightly tired." Anko replied, patting him on the head with a pitying smile on her face. The blonde genin growled loudly and smacked her hand away causing a laugh to go through the rest of the group.

"Let's just get some sleep then." he grumbled out.

The Jounin nodded and began walking at a brisk pace through the complex with the rest of them following. Eventually they reached the top from going up two flights of staircases.

When Kanatsu wondered about why they were taking the stairs instead of just wall walking up and going through a window, Anko heard the thought and replied as if it was spoken, "Because from my work in T&I, we made a seal that blocks any chakra from going onto the surface the seal is placed on. It took a good six months to make, but still well worth it if you live alone or with only one or two now, only the T&I members have access to them."

"_Huh. That's actually really interesting. I wonder how they managed to make it spread over a whole suface with just one seal_." Kanatsu said, pondering the seal makeup.

Anko nervously chuckled, "Eh-heh, well... I think they just put a camoflauge jutsu on multiple chakra suppressant seals..."

Kanatsu sweatdropped at the Jounin, "_So you mean to say, they spent six months just on doing something so simple?_"

"Well... the seal makers we have are really slow... and I think slightly insane." Anko weakly defended her previous job.

"Fuinjutsu is an incredibly hard branch of the Shinobi Arts so I wouldn't doubt it... Although, why are they partially insane?" Mei curiously asked.

Anko dryly replied, "They crap they have to see in some of those toture rooms when applying the seals."

"Anko-chan, is that you?" a feminine voice drifted out of an apartment door next to Anko's.

The Jounin smiled brightly, "Of course Nai-chan! Who else would I be?" Kurenai walked out of her apartment room and narrowed her eyes at Naruto before Anko walked up to her and bopped the raven haired Jounin, "No glaring at my Foxy-kun." Anko moved her mouth to Kurenai's ears, "_He's not what the villagers say he is. He's not insane, bloodthirsty or wants the village to burn in flames. And if you did trust them, you're insane."_

Kurenai looked at Anko, momentarily shocked before her head went into overdrive, '_I guess he can't be as bad as what the rumours have been saying from the civilians. It's as if she's been friends with him or friendly to him for a long time_ _and I know she won't take any shit from him nor from anyone. Might as well give him a shot... Maybe Anko might share since it looks like she's already staking her claim whether he knows or not.'_ She thought with a small smirk.

"Ah, sorry about that Naruto-san. I heard the rumours circulating the village and assumed they were correct. My apologies." Kurenai said to Naruto who just nodded and did his trademark vulpine smile.

"That's fine Kurenai-san. It's nice to know there's some people who will at least give me a chance before just following the rumours like a moth to flame." His voice betrayed no negative emotion, but he couldn't hold back the slight pang of sadness that followed through the bond to the women -minus Kurenai- there. He recieved reassurances from all four of the women that shared the bond with him.

Kurenai warmly smiled, "So I guess Anko-chan has managed to get you all to live here with us?"

"Yeah, Anko-san has gotten us to live here with her after talking with Hokage-sama." Mei replied with equal warmth. If anyone was friends with Anko, it couldn't hurt to be nice to them in return.

"So Nai-chan, are you going to come in to relax for a bit?" Anko asked.

Kurenai shook her head in a negative manner, "Sorry Anko-chan, there's a Jounin meeting to go to right now with the Hokage about testing a new recruit to the village."

"Ahh, that's fine," Anko replied jovially, "I already know the person who's getting tested and she'll pass easily enough." Kurenai turned her eyes to Mei, the person Anko was staring at and put two and two together.

"Well then, welcome to Konoha!" Kurenai said to Mei with a smile on her face, "I'd stay longer but I'm probably gonna be late if I do. See you later!" The raven haired Jounin opened a window and jumped out, throwing a kunai at the top of the window, making it close shut.

Anko 'hmm'ed' sagely for a moment before muttering, "So that's how the hell she always managed to get the damn window to close after jumping out of it."

Saiku yawned from Naruto's shoulder and lifted her head up, "_Mmm, what happened?"_

Kanatsu looked up incrediously to the fox, "_You mean to tell me that you were asleep the whole time we've been back in Konoha?"_

"_Yeah, pretty much. Naru-kun's shoulder is comfy like a pillow!"_ she defended her actions making said pillow sweatdrop.

The talking and bantering continued well into the night, including Kurenai when she finally came back until they finally called it a night.

_**XXX-XXX**_

Two Days Later, Konoha Stadium

The past two days in Konoha were nothing too special, and as such they passed with little excitement. Naruto, Kanatsu, Saiku and Mei all became acquainted with Kurenai and felt comfortable enough to be able to call her a friend. They began to also understand some of her nature, a calmer type of woman that -most of the time- took the time to find out information about what she was searching for or wondering about. They also discovered she hated perverts yet, from the occasional glances she sent to Naruto that might just be a ploy to keep the majority of Konoha's men away from her.

The Council that Sarutobi talked about suprisingly didn't try to pursue her once they figured out that she would be joining the village. Sure, there was the few on the Council that wanted her punished when they heard that she had the Yoton Release and their only Sharingan user in the village had most likely lost any chances of becomming a father. But there was no grounds to do so as Sasuke agreed with Sarutobi's explanation that there was another Yoton user there that caused his injuries.

Kakashi made sure that he damn well feared Mei and played on the fact that she would get him even worse next time if he did try to blame her when Sarutobi asked him to play along.

As such, the days passed by fast enough that Mei's test came by a blink of an eye.

Mei stood in the middle of the stadium with a group of Jounin, all being the older more experienced and elite of the Jounin in the village. The Jounin there were, Kurenai the Genjutsu Mistress, The Green Beast Maito Gai, Sharingan no Kakashi, The Snake Mistress Anko, Sarutobi Asuma along with Genma Shiranui but he was standing next to the Hokage as a proctor.

Sarutobi stood in front of them and smiled, "Today is the day where we test Mei-san to join the ranks of our Village. This will be like anyone else's advanced rank placement test, so Mei-san here will pick one of you and I will pick the other. The object is to fight until unconsciousness or until one side is unable to fight." The Hokage looks towards Mei and nodded once with a dip of his head, "Pick your opponent."

Mei thought about it for a moment and took the time to study each one carefully. Kakashi seemed to hold himself in a lazy manner but from the way he was standing she could tell that he was ready for any attacks despite reading an odd orange book that Kurenai had told her was nearly pure smut. Probably a ninjutsu or taijutsu specialist. Gai seemed a bit too excited and with the lack of weapons other than a few kunai and a muscular frame she assumed he was a taijutsu specialist. Asuma seemed to be relaxed, slightly fingering his trench blades showing that he was an upclose fighter, most likely a taijutsu/kenjutsu and ninjutsu user. Kurenai herself was calm, despite having very little weapons that Mei could see at all on herself, and she seemed not too muscular showing that her specialty wasn't taijutsu. Maybe likely a genjutsu specialist? Anko she already knew about, knowing she was nearly a jack of all trades except for genjutsu, based on the fact that Mei has never seen her using one.

Next she momentarily thought about her own skills and studying the field as well. Strong in ninjutsu, strong in taijutsu, okay at genjutsu and good at fighting with weapons (kenjutsu). The stadium's field itself was fairly long, enough to easily maneuver without having any trouble with the large walls surrounding the field. There was also fairly few areas to actually hide in, a few trees off to one side and no immediate water sources around that could be drawn upon for any Jutsu. From that point, she knew which one would be the best for her to fight.

With her analysis done with she made her pick. She turned to Sarutobi and said, "I'll fight the pervert reading the orange book." The grey haired Jounin closed his book and took a studying look at Mei, obviously making his own observations about her. The rest of the Jounin there all laughed at name for Kakashi.

Sarutobi appeared pensive for a moment before making his own choice, "Anko, fight with Kakashi." Anko grinned widely, already anxious for the fight. "Everyone else leave the field except for the proctor."

_**XXX-XXX**_

Kurenai, Gai and Asuma, Konoha Stadium Stands

The three Jounin that were jumping up to the stands wished her luck and began talking amongst themselves before the fight began, studying how the auburn haired woman would do against one of the more sadistic Jounin and an ex-anbu captain. "She won't be able to last that long is my guess. Between Kakashi's ninjutsu and Anko's unpredictability, she'll be hard pressed to do much more than just defend." Asuma said, giving his suggestion on the fight.

"Asuma-san, that's not youthful at all! We don't even know how good she is at fighting with her flames of youth nor how she fights at all!" Gai shouted with only a faction of the usual volume that his voice had. It appeared that Gai was extremely curious about the fight.

Kurenai put in her own two cent, "I think that with her Yoton bloodline, she'll have a fair time fighting them off if she's smart about it."

Taking a drag from his cigarette Asuma frowned, "I had forgotten about that part from her. I wonder just how well she can use it..." he said with his voice trailing off, Gai nodding with his sentence.

**XXX-XXX**

Hokage Box, Konoha Stadium

"How do you think she'll do?" Sarutobi asked, taking a puff from his smoking pipe.

Naruto seemed to mull it over for a moment, along with Kanatsu and Saiku, "I think that in defense, if she can use her handsigns then she should be fine but otherwise, Mei-chan will have to pull off some good moves to get away. If she can go on the offensive, then she shouldn't have too much trouble. It also helps that they can't mentally hear each other since Kanatsu is blocking them from hearing anyone's thoughts except their own." The blonde's eyes seemed to glaze over momentarily.

Sarutobi noticed it and asked Naruto, "Are you alright Naruto-kun?

The blonde shook his head to clear it, "Yeah, I'm fine but Kanatsu had a question." Seeing Sarutobi nod he continued, "How exactly do you rate the skills in this test and do you also take in the fact of improvising along with tactics?"

Sarutobi turned to the fox, while seemingly ignoring the wolf, and answered, "I rate them by how well they do against the opposition and yes, I also take into consideration how well they improvised on the spot along with their tactics. Now then... let's watch... the... fight..." he mumbled out, feeling extremely cold at the moment. He slowly turned to Kanatsu and saw Naruto do the same with an Oni mask appearing behind her.

"Eh-heh, I guess you just answered her question to the wrong person..." Naruto sweatdropped watching Saiku yip as if she were laughing -which she probably was- before tilting his head and seeing the mask disappear, "She just said, 'Don't ignore me when I ask a question Sarutobi-san.'... I personally think that you shouldn't either." Naruto shuddered before turning his attention to the upcoming fight.

Sarutobi slowly relaxed and apologized to Kanatsu before following Naruto's lead. _'Dear Kami-sama Naruto-kun! You are so screw later on in life if you piss her off. No scratch that, ANY woman that has that damn mate mark you told me about yesterday you shouldn't piss off!'_

_**XXX-XXX**_

Mei, Kakashi and Anko

"Are you ready?" Genma asked both sides.

Mei and Kakashi both gave a nod, not taking their eyes off of the opposition whereas Anko yelled, "Hurry it up!" Genma chuckled in response and began the fight.

"Mei Terumi vs Anko Mitarashi and Kakashi Hataki, Hajime!" With the words out of his mouth, he quickly jumped back to avoid getting injured while being in the field.

"Sen'eijashu (Hidden Shadow Snake Hand)!" Anko yelled, beginning the fight with a volley of snakes from her trench coat's sleeve. Mei rolled out of the way only to jump into the air, dodging Kakashi's Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu (Mythical Fire Phoenix Technique). Mei quickly took note of where both of them were, Anko rushing towards her and Kakashi getting ready for another jutsu to throw out.

Quickly gathering her beiring while in the air, she quickly moved her hands through the hand signs and shouted, "Yoton: Yōgan Katamari (Lava Glob)" The globs of lava shot from her mouth at a breakneck pace towards Kakashi who had to continually roll and jump out of the way while Mei landed onto the ground, getting into position to grapple with Mei in a taijutsu match.

Anko quickly traversed the last few meters and started off by throwing a lightning quick jab to Mei's right arm, fully intent of dislocating it for the rest of the fight or until Mei could pop it back into place. The auburn haired woman quickly swatted Anko's hand away and threw an underhanded punch to Anko's stomach that was also swatted away. From there, it began a game of swatting the punch, or dodging the other's kick and retaliating with a move that would be devastating if landed. Finally, Anko had enough of the silence, "Come on! You can't even hit me!"

Mei let out a mocking laugh as she ducked under a roundhouse kick, "Are you kidding? You can't even hit me yourself!"

"Then how about I change the fight up a bit then Mei-san!" Kakashi yelled as he jumped into the fray with his Hitae-ite was pushed up, showing his Sharingan eye.

_**XXX-XXX**_

Kurenai, Gai and Asuma, Konoha Stadium Stands

"Holy crap! She's going against Anko in taijutsu and it looks like they're not even holding anything back." Asuma gasped, nearly dropping his cigarette in the process.

Gai nodded in response, "She in indeed a youthful opponent! I myself can barely see how fast they're going!"

Kurenai gasped and pointed to Kakashi, "Gai, Asuma, look over at Kakashi! He's already taking out his Sharingan this early in the fight. That alone shows how serious he is in this fight."

"Yosh! Let us see how she reacts to the flames of youth from Kakashi _and_ Anko at the same time!"

"Well, in my books, she's already a Jounin." Asuma stated, putting his cigarette back into his mouth.

Kurenai nodded, "Definately Jounin, maybe elite Jounin on how she deals with Kakashi as well."

_**XXX-XXX**_

Hokage Box, Konoha Stadium

"Well Naruto-kun, I believe she's already earned a part of the ways towards becomming a Jounin." Sarutobi mirthfully said.

Naruto shut his jaw from where it was lying on the ground, "Dear Kami! How are they moving so fast?! I can only see a faint blur and them moving a few paces when they dodge!"

Sarutobi chuckled, "That my boy, is a Jounin's speed and skill at work. If you've ever sparred against Anko I'm betting she was a lot slower, ne?" He saw Naruto nod, who was still watching the fight and took a glance back at the fight, "Oh my, Kakashi is getting serious by using the Sharingan."

Saiku growled from Naruto's shoulder at the word 'Sharingan'. Sarutobi glanced at Naruto who explained, "She's had a bad experience with the Sharingan." She calmed down when Kanatsu got up and padded over to her, licking her once in the face to break her out of her funk.

"Well, that's one way to calm down Saiku-san for you to remember later on Naruto-kun." Sarutobi teased, making Naruto blush lightly. The blonde seemed to want to retaliate but something held him back, and Sarutobi found out what it was quick enough. He immediately tensed when he felt that similar feeling of dread and coldness, only this time it was somewhat stronger and Naruto didn't seem to be affected by it. He was actually studying the damnable mask this time

"Sorry, sorry!" He apologized immediately, trying to get away from the mask. It slowly went away and Kanatsu sat in-between Naruto and Sarutobi. "W-well, let's watch how the fight turns out from here."

**_XXX-XXX_**

Mei, Kakashi and Anko

_'Crap! Now Kakashi's in the damn fray? I need to get away!' _she thought, catching Kakashi running towards her. "Don't ignore me!" Anko yelled, catching Mei in the crook of her left arm. Mei winced, ducked under Anko's kick once again and turned to Kakashi, who was closing in fast. She focused her chakra to her arm muscles and threw a punch that rivaled, if not surpassed Anko's own speed, towards Kakashi's chest who just blocked it with his arms crossed. She heard him wince from the blow and realized this was her chance to break away.

_'I hope this works!' _Mei focused chakra to her legs and jumped back as far as she could, getting distance from the pair. She quickly went through the hand signs for another Yoton technique barely dodging the Sen'eijashu snakes and shouted, "Yoton: Yōgangen (Lava Field Technique)" With that, the field itself seemed to shake and rumble. Kakashi quickly looked down and saw a large chakra mass of what he assumed to be lava quickly approaching upwards through his Sharingan eye.

"Anko! Jump into the air, now!" he yelled to his teammate who had to break off from her charge at Mei to jump into the air to avoid the lava that was now just coming up from the ground and spread at a rapid pace. Kakashi sped through the handseals necessary for Suiton: Suigadan (Water Fang Bullet) A bullet of water seemingly shot out of his mask, and watched as the ground below them quickly cooled down into black rock. Anko on the other hand, while Kakashi was dealing with the lava problem, as soon as she saw the lava harden, she created a Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clone) and used Kawarimi (Substitution) with it.

"Doton: Yomi Numa (Swamp of the Underworld)!" she yelled, the jutsu swamping the entire field, covering over the lava creating steam that masked the whole field along with hardened the mud.

_**XXX-XXX**_

Kurenai, Gai and Asuma

Currently, all three of the Jounin were in some form of shock with varying levels in-between. With what they saw however, was certainly worth it: A new Jounin prospect for Konoha, setting off a Jutsu that swamped the whole stadium in lava and didn't even look winded. Although, she could be hiding her exhaustion like what Anko and Kakashi were no doubt doing -or were going to do-.

"Oh my god!" Asuma nearly choked on his cigarette, "How can she do that shit so easily?!"

Gai for once didn't even bother with his 'flames of youth', or rather, he didn't wish to test his against hers anytime soon, "I don't think I want to fight her without my Gates opened to at least the first or second level if she has those jutsu in her arsenal."

Kurenai nodded and chuckled at Gai's comment, "I think that would be a wise choice Gai." She looked down at the steam covered field to show a jutsu being thrown once again, "Let's see how she reacts now, since we all know that Kakashi and Anko would never leave that opportunity go to waste to lay some type of plan down."

_**XXX-XXX**_

Mei, Kakashi and Anko

Mei looked around into the mist, panting slighty, and pulled out two kunai. She wincedat her throbbing arm. _'Damn, Anko got me good. I'm not going to last much longer like this and using Yoton: Yōgangen didn't help me much with the chakra it wasted. I'm going to have to use Boil Release to win...__' _Just after she pondered her situation and resolved herself, she heard Kakashi shout out, "Futon: Daitoppa (Great Breakthrough)!"

With the steam there was little visibility but the horizontal wave of wind that seemed to be honed to sharpness, barreled towards Mei with pinpoint accuracy, forcing her to roll away. She barely moved in time to dodge the jutsu from doing any critical damage and only recieved a slight shaving of skin off of the back of her leg. While getting up, a wave of easily thirty kunai were thrown at her along with Anko and Kakashi rushing, the grey haired ninja taking the lead. "Crap!" Mei swore, moving her hands through the necessary handseals for Doton: Doryuheki (Earth Wall). A wall of hardened earth rose up from the ground, "Come on then Anko! You can do better than this!" Mei taunted, trying to get a rise out of Anko to get their position better from behind the wall of earth.

"You're right, I can!" Anko boasted, her voice sounding close. Mei got ready, her hands flashing and muttered, "Futton: Suchīmukuraudo (Boil Style: Steam Cloud). A steam cloud drifted from Mei's mouth and she lowered the acidic level for the right moment to catch Anko and Kakashi. Not even one second later, Anko jumped over the earth wall with a kunai ready in one hand with Kakashi following from the side. She quickly raised the pH level (acidic level) to the point where it could disable them without permanently injuring them and watching in shock as they vanished in a puff of smoke.

Mei spun around, eyes wide and darting from location to location until she felt a slight tug on her foot. Kakashi's hand was grasping for it, so Mei jumped back and saw Anko's Sen'eijashu barreling towards her. Mei quickly spat out a lava glob after doing the necessary seals for a Yoton: Yōgan Katamari and melted the snakes, totally missing Anko silently Shunshin (Body Flicker) behind Mei after she landed. Kakashi took that point to rise up from the ground and throw a kunai towards Mei who sidestepped it...

Only to get wrapped up in snakes from Anko's Sen'eijashu from behind. The auburn haired woman let out a good natured laugh after catching her breath and reeling in her shock, "Damn! That was a good combo."

Kakashi eye smiled in response, "It was a good match Mei-san. If that was a serious fight then the outcome might've been different in the end. If it lasted any longer, I wouldn't have had much more chakra to do much anything except Taijutsu and I know Anko used up the most of her remaining chakra from her Sen'eijashu." The ex-torturer scoffed and smacked Kakashi upside lightly.

Genma appeared in a Shunshin of green leaves, "Dear Kami, remind me to never piss you, Mei-san. That was downright scary." he good-naturedly joked making Anko grow a sadistic grin.

"So you mean you don't fear pissing me off?" Anko twirled a kunai through her right hand. Genma immediately began reassuring her that he did in fact, fear her. Mei and Kakashi both sweatdropped at Anko's antics.

Genma finally stopped reassuring Anko and called the match with a small smile on his face, "Winner, Anko Mitarashi and Kakashi Hatake!"

"Anko," Mei started, a sickly sweet smile fell over her face, creeping out even the normally unfazable Anko, "Please release me from these snakes or I'll kill you."

"Eh-heh..." Anko nervously laughed. _'Dear Kami, she creeps even_ me_ out when she talks like that with that smile...'_ She dispelled her snakes letting Mei stand back up before the Hokage along with the rest of the Jounin, Naruto, Saiku and Kanatsu jumped down, praising Mei on how well she did against the odds.

Asuma took a drag from his cigarette before smiling to Mei, "I honestly didn't expect you to do as well as you did. Usually when Kakashi fights in these tests he rarely lets out his Sharingan and you fought against it with Anko as well."

"No doubt I'm glad you're on our side Mei-san. Just that one Yoton jutsu you used was absolutely devastating." Kurenai said, motioning to the field where the majority of the people there sweatdropped. The entire floor of the field was blackened and charred with steam filtering up in random places where the ground was uneven.

"Yosh! Your flames of youth are indeed high Terumi-san!" Gai shouted in his good guy pose, hand outstretched giving a thumbs up and smiling brightly.

Sarutobi gave a small cough and everyone turned over to him, "Yes, indeed Gai... Anyways, based on the fight I believe I can confidently and without any doubt say that you are worthy of becomming a Jounin right now. I believe that you will soon be able to be classified as an 'Elite' Jounin like most of whom are here." The Hokage gave a grandfatherly smile, "I believe that you all have business of some sort to attend to" With that, Sarutobi began walking off muttering how he needed to get the field fixed before the Chuunin exams were being held.

"Hey Mei-chan, what was that mist attack you used? It seems similar to the Katon: Nenshō hai kumo (Combustion Ash Cloud)." Asuma asked, curious as to why it was a mist that melted instead of erupted like how the Nenshō hai kumo did.

Mei looked pensive for a moment and took an inconspicious look towards Naruto and Anko who were looking like they were messing around. She locked eyes with Kanatsu and Saiku whom were both sitting on the ground, watching the blonde and purple haired Jounin. They both nodded with both a feral and vulpine grin respectively. _'Go ahead, just don't tell too much. If anything we can pull a card or two to protect you from being on the CRA (Clan Restoration Act). That and you belong to us and vice versa.'_ Saiku said in a serious tone despite her rather large grin.

_'Yes indeed. I will eat their souls if they do try to attempt anything.. or maybe Naruto could get practice with soul manipulation using Shi no Ibuki on them. It will take a while though to get good at it, and it won't leave a mark on the bastards Kukukuku...'_ Kanatsu evily trailed off, Saiku eyeing her cautiously.

"It is like it now that you mention it. The jutsu itself is called Futton: Suchīmukuraudo. It is one of the two Bloodlines that I currently have." Mei cheerfully stated, as if saying that having two seperate Kekkei Genkais from one person was a common place matter. The people who heard however... It definitely was not a common place matter.

"Yosh! Your flames of youth burn brighter than ever!" Gai shouted loudly in his typical manly pose, "I am most glad that I am your ally instead of foe! If you ever need a Taijutsu workout, tell me and I will raise your flames of youth to higher heights!" Mei inwardly frowned as she worked over his words, _'Does that mean he's either hitting on me or offering to help me in Taijutsu? Yeah, it had better be the second option or lava will fly and those inhuman eyebrows and bowl cut will be the first to be introduced to the Shinigami...' _

_'Hey! I don't want anything to deal with anything involving that creepy spandex wearing man, least of all his damn hair!' _Kanatsu objected to Mei's idea.

_'Oh right, you _are_ the Shinigami. Even though its been a few days since we've all bonded, it stills feels weird to know that I'm talking to the Shinigami herself.'_

Saiku decided to pip in at that point, _'You'll regret it later on. Her weird Oni Mask creeps the hell out of me!'_

_'Saiku, what was that about my mask being weird?' _Kanatsu asked, with an evil smirk on her face. No one shall dare call that mask weird, especially when the user of the Oni Mask was one of the strongest beings to exist, only second to Kami. The Bijuu may have some leeyway with being considered minor gods, Saiku being the except as her power was strong enough to be considered to be only marginally higher than a minor god.

_'Nothing, nothing at all Kana-chan!' _the fox quickly hurried to hide her screw up. Mei rolled her eyes at how fast Saiku tried to mend her own mouthy screw ups. She truly was afraid of that Oni Mask, not that anyone could blame her though. That damn thing could be considered a Torture Technique that Ibiki, Anko's previous boss, would almost salivate over getting his hands on.

"I'll assume that you're offering for Taijutsu practice and not anything else, right?" Mei asked, prompting Gai to respond with vigor.

"Of course Terumi-san! I would not degrade myself to the most unyouthful tactics that you're implying!"

The newly promoted Jounin nodded her head, satisfied with his answer, "Very well Gai-san, I'll see about it then." Mei at that point decided to turn her head from hearing mental snickers going off. Mei turned her head and immediatedly began laughing. The other Jounin, hearing her laughter, decided to turn their attention to what she was laughing at.

The scene was... memorable to say the least of it.

Naruto was sitting on Anko who somehow was tied in old fashioned rope. How he got it, they didn't know and didn't care. The thing that was burned in their memories though, was the look of utter anguish when they saw on her face when Naruto summoned a dango from a scroll and proceeded to eat it, just swallowing them whole, enjoying the softness of it.

Naruto didn't deserve Dango! He didn't even appreciate its fine makings nor how to properly enjoy it instead of just swallowing it whole!

Anko sucked up her pride and actually apologized, inwardly growling at him, "Alright Foxy-kun... Ramen is... b-b-bett-better than D-dango..." Naruto smiled and instantly gave her a stick of Dango, and put it into her mouth after very little coaxing to get her to open her mouth.

"Now then... I'm going to slowly walk away Anko-chan and release the wire with a clone..."

*SNAP!*

A dark forboding and ominious aura surrounding Anko, "Now then Foxy-kun... What was that about you trying to force me to say ramen is better than _dango_?"

"Eep!" Naruto squeaked and immediately booked it as fast as he could yet Anko grabbed the collar of his shirt just before he was out of her reach. She slowly yanked him back with evil chuckles escaping her mouth. Anko took a fleeting glance at the spectators watching who were watching with great enthusiasm, "Ta ta, I've gotta go teach an unruly Genin not to mess with me!" Anko then proceeded to Shunshin away in green leaves, still holding tight to the scrambling blonde Genin.

Mei threw her head back and let out a loud laugh, "Ahaha! Naruto-kun has got it coming for messing with Anko-chan." She looked at the Jounin who were still chuckling over the little show they had, "Wanna go get something to drink with me and these two?" Mei asked, gesturing to both Saiku and Kanatsu.

_'What kinds of Sake do they have here anyways?'_ Kanatsu wondered as she meandered over to Mei, Saiku jumping off of her little perch on Kanatsu up to Mei's shoulder and took her customary position that she usually did on Naruto to Mei.

_'Dunno but I want to see how much Sake it takes for me TO get drunk... Last time I checked it was around twenty-six bottles to even get a light buzz. Damn high metabolism...'_ Saiku grumbled irritably. Sake got too far too expensive for her tastes last time she did try to get drunk, so why bother? But if another person was willing to pay... that's an entirely different matter.

Mei's suggestion was met with acceptance and so the Jounin led Mei to their usual drinking place, snickering every once in a while when they recounted the antics of Anko and Naruto, inwardly thanking Kami that she would never be that sadistic to them... Provided that they never tried to get in the way of her favorite food, Dango, and its numerous variations.

_**XXX-XXX**_

Naruto and Anko, Forest of Death

"Uh.. eh-heh. Anko-chan... I was just kidding... You know that right?" Naruto nervously stated, watching Anko slowly begin to grin and pull him closer to her. "Erm... Don't hurt me?"

Anko looked at him incrediously after he squeaked out the phrase 'Don't hurt me?'. She laughed at his nervous and scared expression and pulled him closer, "Foxy-kun, I wouldn't exactly hurt you over something like this..." Naruto's face lit up like a Christmas tree, he was going to get off scott free!

"But!" Anko cut in, his face fell again, "You will have a punishment." She came to eye level with him and smiled genuinely, "This will be your punishment..." Anko brought her lips onto his, slowly kissing him, enjoying the pleasurable tingles she felt spread throughout her body before pulling away, not giving a chance to let him deepen it.

"Now that you've been somewhat punished... Time to get your ass training! I need to get you up to scratch with your wind jutsu. Even though we broached some jutsu over the training we did as Team 11, I didn't get to teach you any Futon jutsu since I can't really do them... well... more like I can't do them since I'm a Doton and Suiton ninjutsu user." Naruto smiled, "So, what I plan on making you do is have your Kage Bunshin go over the Futon jutsu while I begin teaching you some more Suiton jutsu."

"Um, Anko-sensei," Naruto started, slipping into the student / mentor mentality, "What about Shinto and Rei?"

Anko frowned momentarily, "I was going to have them come along as I sent a Chikyū Bunshin (Earth Clone) before the fight to see if they'd like to join for training after the fight and they said 'no.'" The purple haired Jounin shrugged before making a Kage Bunshin with a good portion of her remaining chakra, panting from the exerscion, "The clone will go teach you while I take a nap." Naruto sweatdropped at the retreating form of Anko. The blonde remembered actually finding out what his affinities were.

_**XXX-XXX**_

Flashback - Eight Months ago, Forest of Death

"Alright you little gakis, come here." Anko grinned, pulling out three pieces of odd white paper, "I want you three to take one of these papers and channel your chakra through it. It'll tell which chakra affinities you have."

Naruto, Rei and Shinto all grabbed one and did as directed.

Rei's began to become soggy and drip water every once in a while. Shinto's crumbled straight into dust the second he channeled his own chakra onto the paper. Naruto's... his paper sliced in two with one half burning instantly leaving only a little clump of ash and the other grew soggy enough to start dissolving in one corner.

"Anko-sensei, is this supposed to happen?" Naruto asked, awestruck that his paper showed three different elements.

Anko adopted a thinking pose, "No, no it isn't supposed to. You're only supposed to have one element at your age and you slowly unlock your second and even a third element."

Saiku looked up from her sleeping perch on Naruto's shoulder and hopped down when she saw Naruto's chakra paper. She transformed back into her human form, fully clothed in her kimono, "I know why." Saiku began, smiling towards Naruto's direction, winking slowly at him before directing her attention back to Anko, "With... certain circumstances his body began adapting and maturing somewhat faster but it was more so internally. The influences unlocked his three afinities, Wind and Water from his parents and Fire from, well, me."

The purple haired Jounin nodded thoughtfully before another question struck her, "What about the stronger reactions to the paper?"

Saiku motioned to the sleeping wolf, Kanatsu, "She also influenced Naru-kun in a way, making him more..." She struggled to find the right word, "_Attuned_ to those three elements, making them somewhat stronger for him and slightly easier to use them."

_**XXX-XXX**_

End Flashback

"Come on then Foxy-kun, hurry up!" Anko's clone yelled at the blonde, breaking him out of his thought process.

Naruto smiled and yelled back, "I'm coming!"

* * *

**The newest chapter of Rise of Demons has finally come out of hiding! Sorry it took so long like I said up top. So how was the chapter? I tried to add some humor to it, but I don't know if it was overdone or just plain pathetic so tell me your thoughts of the chapter, however...**

**-Before you guys review (if you do) let me explain a few things:**

**A) Naruto and his three afinities. I know he has three affinities but that does not mean he will be slinging around all five elements, he will just be swinging those three types. After chatting with Inu he gave me the suggestion of having Kanatsu influence his elements via a Ying/Yang type idea. The idea being, the Jutsu he uses for those elements will become somewhat stronger than say, another person at Naruto's strength using the same amount of chakra. It would also improve his non elemental moves, such as his Kage Bunshin, which I always thought as weird for him to be able to spam over 200+ of them with barely a pant.**

**B) The Jounin fight, I hope you did like it. I tried to portray Mei as a very strong Jounin but not as a Kage Level Kunoichi. I hope I tried to portray that, along with the difficulty facing two ninja at once. ****Also, the reason Kakashi and Anko have some difficulty is because of one fact, they had to 'detain' her and in my opinion, capturing / detaining alive is much harder than just straight up killing the person. That and they can't really use their aces as it could very well kill each other, but I hope that gave a good overview of the three of them.**

**C) Shinto and Rei, they have not been forgotten and are going to be going away soon but I won't say anything more than that. They're the catalyst that causes the major events in the story later on.**

**Next chapter will be the Chuunin Exams! You also have time to offer suggestions for the Preliminary Fights for Naruto =D.**

**Hope you guys have a good day and I'll be around if you have any questions!**


	7. Chuunin Exams, Parts One and Two

**I'm back for a new chapter! Sorry about the minor delay and all that jazz. **

**Anyways, three things I want to bring up before you start reading this chapter:**

**1) Inu-shommaru I have named my offical Co-Author for this story and a few others that will be coming out soon, as he is a really great person to suggest and bounce ideas off of, getting good feedback and suggestions in return being a really good author himself. So, give a shoutout to him for helping me continue the story and vice versa.**

**2) I have serveral story ideas that I plan on writing with Inu's help, and if you want to check them out, go ahead and look on my profile page for info on them along with the Progress on my current uploaded stories. They still won't be out for a while though so you don't have to worry about crappy writing totally destroying the good ideas behind them =P.**

**3) Thank you, to all the readers who decided to give this story a chance. It really is appreaciated and I hope I can still pump out chapters that you all will like.**

**Now then, I believe you're here for the story and as such, here's the next chapter of RoD! **

**Chapter Seven - Chuunin Exams**

"Wow, it's been so long since we've been here." Naruto wondered aloud to his teammates, staring at the Shinobi Academy where the first part of the Chuunin Exams would take place.

"Yeah," Shinto tersely added with Rei giving a silent nod in response before striding forward. _'Odd. Rei is usually a bit more talkative in the morning and Shinto isn't nearly as... off as he is. I can't describe how off he is though.' _Naruto broadcasted his thoughts outwards.

_'Something is off with them, but it could also be the Chuunin Exams on their nerves.'_ Saiku supplied helpfully while Kanatsu gave the equivalent of a mental shake of the head.

_'Shinto is always ready for a challenge, much like a bull most times. Rei on the other hand is much more analytical but not to this extent. They're both out of character, but I wonder why?'_

Naruto shrugged his shoulders and followed his teammates inside the Shinobi Academy, letting his thoughts wander a bit before reaching the First Exam.

_**XXX-XXX**_

Flashback - Two Days Ago

Both huffing and puffing, Naruto sighed as he barely managed to actually use a ninjutsu that Saiku had been trying to teach him for a while. It was an incredibly useful jutsu that would no doubt come in handy for the Chuunin Exams but... "She didn't have to be a sadist about teaching it though." He grumbled under his breath. Saiku's training consisted of either you get it on the run, or you get hurt.

Badly.

Naruto shook off his exhaustion once again to attempt the jutsu when he heard leaves rustling and a branch to give way, revealing something the Jinchuuriki really did not expect. There was Kakashi, everything was normal about him, down to the very same orange book with his hand covering any illustration on the front of the story. And then there was Sasuke suprisingly. Yet the shocking thing about Sasuke was not that he was here with Kakashi but the expression on his face.

It was a humble expression.

What happened to the raven-haired Uchiha that would warrant his mood be...havior...

_'Yeah, Mei-chan happening could warrant that. She is damn scary with that Lava Bloodline and that damnable eeriely creepy smile that even Anko-chan is creeped out about.'_ Naruto shuddered at the image.

_'So I'm eeriely creepy huh?' _Mei's voice wafted through his mind scaring Naruto to no end before he realized it was Mei and that his thoughts were on 'broadcast' instead of private. A useful thing that Kanatsu had figured out about the bond. It could be blocked in such a way that it was like a light switch. On for broadcasting and recieving thoughts, Off for private thinking and doesn't recieve any of the broadcasted thoughts. There was a way to breakthrough it if the need was strong enough for one another but that wasn't needed, nor necessary at the moment. If only Naruto had thought to put his thoughts on private...

_'Erm... Oh look, there's Tora that needs to be saved... BYE!' _Naruto quickly flipped the switch to private thoughts just before the assumed eruption. _'I'm so screwed when I get to the apartment but at least I'm safe for now.' _The blonde mentally assured himself.

Oh how wrong that assumption could turn out.

"Maa maa, Naruto!" Kakashi waved his hand in front of the blonde's blank face trying to get his attention. Naruto finally snapped to attention, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

"Eh-heh, sorry Kakashi."

Kakashi nodded in response, thinking thoughtful for a moment before covering the expression with an eye-smiling mask that somehow sent shivers down Naruto's spine for some reason. "I believe Sasuke here has something to say to you before we leave." He gestured to the humbled Uchiha who walked up to Naruto and said three words the blonde had never thought he would hear uttered from the Uchiha's lips.

"I'm sorry Naruto." His eyes widened at the Uchiha's words, who was then prompted by Kakashi to say even more, "I was an... arrogant selfish brat to you and many others. Having humility literally beat into me..." Sasuke took a sigh and stared up into the canopy of leaves and branches before moving his head back down to Naruto's, "From both Kakashi and Terumi-san, I now at least know some modicum of it."

Naruto blinked once... twice, much like an owl in response before finally gaining the bearing to respond, "Erm, wow Sasuke. I never expected you be the one to apologize." Naruto's gaze turned slightly cold during the middle of his next few words, "I honestly don't care much about what you say or do to me, but what you did do to Mei-chan was unexcusable. I hope you're apologizing to her as well..." He gazed hard into the Uchiha's black eyes before sticking his hand towards Sasuke out after he had said his piece, "So long as you stay somewhat humble like you are right now, I'm good."

He nodded in response, the sides of his lip twitching upwards into an almost unnoticable smile as he took Naruto's hand, "I'll try my best."

"So touching." Kakashi's voice rang out happily, "Oh and Naruto," The Jounin added after cocking his head to the side, "You might want to start running." He grabbed Sasuke's shoulder and did a Leaf Shunshin (Body Flicker) away from the forest clearing leaving Naruto wondering about his words before it was too late.

"Oh Narutttooooo..." Mei's voice called out behind the now twitching blonde. He should've taken that damn pervert's advice!

Anyone who was nearby heard a distinctly male voice yell "**HAVE MERCY ON ME!**" followed by a much quieter female's voice, but somehow easier to hear, "_Not until I have exacted my punishment!"_

The male's shouting voice was cut off, making all who heard shiver in fear at the punishment he was getting.

_**XXX-XXX**_

End Flashback

_'Mei-chan can kiss really good though...'_ he thought in remembrance to when he thought he was going to get a much harsher sentence from her. At least this time he hadn't broadcasted his thoughts as that would've led to a whole other set of problems that Saiku and Anko would most likely provoke. Naruto shrugged off the thoughts and focused on the task at hand: the First part of the Chuunin Exams. They knew they had to go to room 301 from what Anko had told them and as such they knew it was on the third floor from two reasons. One being that room 300-399 was on the third floor and two, Anko had already told them.

Passing a rather large crowd of genin that were trying to get into a room with a '301' sign on it. Naruto sighed and pulsed his chakra outwards, dispelling the set illusion making the majority of the gathered genin to sigh and sulk about having been caught from such a low trick.

Both Shinto and Rei turned to him with confused looks on their faces as they walked up the stairs. Why would he willingly increase the competition? The blonde just chuckled at their confused looks when they finally entered room 301, already knowing that Anko wasn't waiting for them as she was preparing for being the Second Examiner for the Chuunin Exams.

"Ibiki-san wouldn't get as much fun that way if there wasn't that many in the first place." The brother and sister duo both adopted an accepting expression before getting a somewhat analytical gleam in their eyes as they stared at all the genin inside the room, and the ones still walking in to the incredibly large classroom that could fit a good 200 students. One of the Chuunin, Naruto assumed, had walked up to them.

"This will most likely sound redundant but this is protocol," The raven-haired chuunin stated in a bored tone, "Name, Village and Rank please."

"Naruto Uzumaki, Konohagakure, Genin." Naruto replied, wondering why he was asking for that info. Both Shinto and Rei replied one after another, in a voice that was now somewhat more expressive yet still held a hint of no emotion in it somehow.

_'Whoah, what the hell is up with Shinto and Rei-chan? I'd ask but I don't want to give away any weaknesses that any of the hopefuls could exploit.' _Naruto projected outwards, breaking the mental silence.

_'Watch you back when you're in the Forest of Death with them.' _Kanatsu warned him, still wary but not for unfounded reasoning.

Saiku piped in with teasing words, _'If worst comes to worst, we can pop out and subdue them if it's too much for you Naru-kun.'_

"Shinto Takashi, Konohagakure, Genin."

"Rei Takashi, Konohagakure, Genin."

"Thank you, for complying. Your spot muscle-man, is over there at the back, Red-head, your's is up front and your's blondie," The chuunin droned on while pointing to each spot where an empty chair was at, "Is by the Hyuuga girl on the other side of the room."

The all seperated and went to their respective seats waiting for the Exams to start.

_'So Kana-chan, Saiku-chan,' _Naruto began, getting the attention of the two.

_'What's up Naru-kun?'_ Saiku asked him, wondering what he was going to ask.

_'Who do you think would give the most challenge here other than the red-head with the sand gourd?'_

Kanatsu let out a low laugh from inside the seal, _'It's simple Naruto-kun. Just flare your Killing Intent and whichever ones flinch the least are the ones that're the strongest, or rather more used to feeling Killing Intent which usually does mean they're somewhat skilled.'_

Just as Naruto was about to flare his Killing Intent, Saiku interjected, _'Naru-kun, turn around! I heard the sounds of a fight just beginning.'_ He did as asked and saw a bandaged ninja with large sleeves from his jacket seemingly wave his hand towards the man with glasses, breaking them and disturbing his sense of balance. Just as he got up though, Ibiki popped into the room in a poof of smoke.

"Sit down maggots or you will not take this exam!" He barked at the still-standing genin who quickly hurried themselves to their chair. The T&I head walked to the front of the room where everyone got a full view of what he looked like and he set a new bar for imposing figure. He was wearing dark grey pants, a dark grey button-up shirt and a black trench coat over it. His head was adorned with both a bandana over his bald, scarred scalp and his Konoha Hitai-ate holding it in place with two long scars going diagonally across his face.

Ibiki sent a discreet look and an imperceptable nod to Naruto, letting him know that the plans begin as soon as possible before beginning the start of the eliminations, "Now that you're all sitting and quiet my name is Ibiki Morino and you're worst nightname. You're here for one thing and one thing only: The Chuunin Exams. How this is going to work," Ibiki grew a smirk that sent chills down the genin's spines, "You are going to take a test that is ten questions, the tenth being taken in the last fifteen minutes of the exam. The scoring is simple, you have ten points, two for each individual question." His smirk grew wider, "To pass, your team must have a collective percentage of at least 70 or higher. There will be no talking at all during the test or you will be docked two points for every outburst if you are called out on outbursts five times your team and yourself will fail the Exams.

"If you are caught cheating in any way, shape or form, you will fail the Exam as well and be forced to leave along with your team." Ibiki almost chuckled at the looks of some of the Genin were giving both each other and him. _'If only they know what will be coming. This truly will be one hell of a way to scare and force the Genin to harden themselves.'_ He mentally grinned at the ideas coming to mind that both he and Naruto had come up with to better select the Chuunin-Hopefuls.

_**XXX-XXX**_

Flashback - Yesterday, Dango Shop

Ibiki Morino strode into the Dango Shop of Konoha that was so frequently used by Anko, wondering just why she would possibly ask -_demand_- him to come. _'I wonder if it has anything to do with her new team. She has been a bit more cordial since I last saw her around seven months ago.'_ He quickly spotted the purple haired Jounin, her hair in the constant pineapple type ponytail.

"What did you call me here for Anko-san, and it better not be to pay your tab for you this time." He gruffly stated, taking a seat opposite to the Jounin, finally taking notice of the tall, cheery blonde next to her. Ibiki quickly ran through a mental checklist of who it could be. _'Tall, blonde hair that's slightly brighter than any Yamanaka's hair, piercing blue eyes that is a Yamanaka type trait though they are slightly duller. And he has... whisker marks. The only one who could fit that profile would be Naruto Uzumaki, Genin, Age... Thirteen or Fourteen now. The question is, what brought the changes? I heard about them but assumed nothing about them.'_

Anko pouted at Ibiki's words, "Aww, that's mean Ibiki! For one, I always pay my tab..." She put a finger up to her chin and tapped it a few times before adding in a slightly serious tone, "Or Foxy-kun here pays it for me. And the reason why I wanted you to come here is because Foxy-kun here had some ideas about the Chuunin Exams that you might like to try. Before you ask, no I did not tell him about it... for once." Ibiki smirked slightly and wondered just what the 'gaki' could possibly suggest for the First part of the Exams.

"Ah, Ibiki-san. Good to meet you," Naruto smiled at the scarred Jounin and held out his hand in a friendly manner that Ibiki shook. Wouldn't be good to leave a person hanging when they've shown nothing hinting towards a possible attack anyways. "So, I have some ideas you might like for the Exams that might just be fun for us to pull off anyways..." Ibiki's smirk grew wider as he listened to the blonde's suggestions. The best part, they all fit inside his limits for the Exams no matter if the pair might be pegged as mentally insane.

As Ibiki would say, 'Take what comes your way and use it until it breaks.' And this he most certainly would not give up and would continually use the ideas until they lost their potency a few years down the road.

_**XXX-XXX**_

Flashback End

_'I still can't believe I've never really thought to use the Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clone) for something like this.'_ The scarred Jounin ruefully thought. If he had thought of the idea maybe a few years ago when he was acting as a Procter for the first part of the Exams then so many Genin would not have made it to the second part of the Exams. _'I wonder which one of the ideas he'll go for first...'_

"Now that everyone has their tests all passed out and a pencil on their desk, time starts, NOW!" A great rustling sounds came from all the papers being flipped over then the utter shock, worry and even in some cases, anger about the questions. Not that Ibiki could blame them at all, as they all were based off of experiences that only a mid-chuunin and higher level ninja could obtain.

About halfways across in the room was Naruto who was gazing at the test with bored look to his eyes. There were various questions about the minimum speed required at which a kunai had to be thrown at a set distance while worrying about any possible wind resistance which those alone would stump the greater majority of the genin in the classroom. Even questions about money involving the quality of the ninja tool that they buy. Good thing Naruto had Kanatsu and Saiku to help answer the questions with the occasional snicker coming through the bond from Anko who was either doing two things. Found something incredibly funny where she was at and forgot to turn her thoughts off of broadcasting or she just found something funny with Naruto asking for help on the the questions with Saiku making him beg for answers from her.

Maybe it was funny.

But regardless of how the test was completed, it was done within ten minutes of furious scribbling and Naruto flipped over the paper to signify he was done. From there, the memory of what happened next would be burned into the brains of each and every one of the Genin there minus a few.

Narutojumped out of his chair, screaming at Ibiki, "Kanashibari no Jutsu (Temporary Paralysis Technique)!" Instantly Ibiki froze up, stiff as a board. The class was in utter shock and silence as they watched Naruto stalk up towards the frozen Ibiki, they themselves frozen from Killing Intent leaked from an unknown source that they presumed it to be Naruto's. "Fufufufufu. Finally I have you in my grasp Ibiki-san..." The blonde hissed at the scarred Jounin, "I think it's time you learned your lesson in manners..." Naruto pulled out a kunai, honed to a razor edge that gleamed with the minor light in the room.

The Ibiki's loud grunts and groans filled the air, the classroom still silent as they watched the psychotic blonde cut through the pant's fabric and down to his leg's skin. He slowly and painstakingly skinned the T&I head's exposed leg, the eyes wide of the Genin, some fainting from the crazy blonde's method of punishment, others from squeamishness at the sight of skin being flayed.

As soon as one person got the bearing to finally break free from the Killing Intent and was about to charge Naruto, the sight became hazy and was replaced with a different sight. This sight was nothing like the other, instead showing Ibiki and several Kage Bunshin that were Henge'd (Transformation) into several random Jounin that were out on a mission sitting at a Poker Table playing poker. Some even took a look towards

Ibiki turned towards the now confused and very much so freaked out Genin with a smirk playing on his face, "The ones that have passed out obviously cannot take the test. If you had a teammate that passed out, get out." Immediatedly there were cries of protest about how unfair that was, and how they would be awake by the tenth question.

Instantly Ibiki's Killing Intent flared out, freezing all in their steps. This was the intent from earlier, not Naruto's but _his_. "Silence you maggots!" He snarled out, his two scars contorting with his angered face, "All who have complained have lost three points from their overall team score! Now, does anyone else wish to complain?" He added, inwardly laughing at the now sufficently cowed Genin with horror filling their widening eyes as they realized if they even missed one question they would fail. The Genin wisely held their tongues and sat back down, watching numerous teams slowly shuffle outside with their heads down in shame.

_'Naruto-san, that was indeed a masterpiece for weeding out the ones with no stomach for this exam. I wonder if I can get him to join T&I...'_

_**XXX-XXX**_

After waiting another twenty minutes with several more teams getting failed from cheating, the time for the tenth question came around. "Tests down." Ibiki called out, "Now is the time for the tenth question for your test, but first," He grinned at the group, his scars making the grin seem sinister, "If you choose not to take this question you will fail the Chuunin Exams."

Instantly there were proclamations about why they wouldn't take it but were soon silenced once again by a cold glare and a flaring of Killing Intent, "If you choose to take the question and get it wrong..." a cold smirk played on Ibiki's face, "You will fail the Chuunin Exams along with your team and never be allowed to become a Chuunin for the rest of your lives."

Once again, there was a round of proclamations that were of total shock and anger.

"THERE ARE GENIN WHO'VE TAKEN THE TEST AT LEAST EIGHT TIMES BEFORE! WHAT GIVES SCAR-FACE?!" Kiba brasenly shouted, shocking even the genin and making Ibiki actually chuckle in response.

"Tough luck dog-boy, you got me as a Proctor. Make your choice now," He pointed towards the door, "If you can't take it then leave along with your team and actually have a chance at becomming a Chuunin instead of failing and never having the chance to become one again."

"I-I can't take the risk. I quit..." one genin said before walking out, the chuunin who helped everyone's seating called out his teammates to leave as well. Soon after the genin and his team left, a proverbial flood left the room in fear of not being able to become a Chuunin ever again.

Ibiki took another glance around the room and noticed that all of the Konoha teams were still there, although several were nearly on the verge of quitting and only really hanging in because of their teammate's begging glances. "Very well," The tension drew tauter and tauter.

"You pass."

"Eh?" Sakura eloquently squeaked before the tension snapped with cheers that they had passed the first exam and confusion for not knowing how.

"None of you understood, yet all of you managed to figure out how to copy without my chuunin spread out in the room not to notice? The point of it was to test both your resolve as a ninja and whether you are capable of gathering information discreetly. If you don't have either, then your life as a ninja will be horrifically short if you are required to do so in a mission." Ibiki explained in a cordial tone, a complete 180 turn around compared to his previous mood.

Just as everyone began to relax -even though a good portion was in an enemy territory- a purple blur shot through one of the only windows in the room with a kunai tied to a banner flung into a wall saying:

The One and Only, Sexy Anko Mitarashi!

"Really Anko-san?" Ibiki sighed, his head in his hands. Anko took a look around the room, an eerie grin on her face that sent more tingles down their spines that Ibiki's ever did before frowning as she did a headcount.

"Ibiki, you're getting old in your practice even with suggestions. There's eighteen teams leftover Ibiki!"

Ibiki sighed once again at his colleague, "You do realize there was at least 180 Genin, 60 Genin teams in here right?"

The purple-haired Jounin brushed that bit of info away before winking at Naruto, "You have thirty minutes to get to training ground 44, The Forest of Death or your team fails!" _'Hurry up and get over here, I want to lay on my Foxy-kun before I start terrorizing the Genin.'_ Naruto gulped and hurried to follow her command, totally ignoring the rest of the room.

It always helps to be cautious with Anko or the life expectancy of the person of her focus would be cut down... drastically.

_**XXX-XXX**_

Timeskip - Thirty Minutes, Forest of Death Entrace

"Alright, shut up and listen or I'm failing your ass!" Anko yelled out, getting everyone's perfect attention. "How the second exam is going to work is that you get one scroll either Heaven or Earth. You must obtain both scrolls by _any means_ _necessary_ and take them to the tower in the middle of the Forest in order to pass." Anko then added after a few seconds to let the different ideas she meant by 'any means necessar', "By the way, you have to sign these contracts stating that Konoha is not responsible for your deaths if they do occur and they do a lot."

While Anko was explaining about the scrolls Naruto began questioning Shinto and Rei about which team they should go after first, "I'm thinking we either go after either of the Ame genin teams, the ones with the bodysuits."

Rei thoughfully gazed at each of the teams and had to agree, they appear to be the easiest to take out.

"The ones with the masks won't be any challenge, so I'm saying the other Ame team with their bodysuits."

Naruto nodded, "Will we go after them at on-" A kunai flew right past Naruto's cheek, slicing his skin open parallel to his whiskers.

_"Naruto-kun, why aren't you paying attention?"_ Anko whispered into his ears, licking the dribbling blood in an effort to freak the Genin out more. It was totally not a bonus that it tasted somewhat good. Not at all.

"Next time Genin, pay attention." Anko smirked at Naruto before a Kusa Kunoichi offered the kunai back to Anko from behind with her tongue. "Don't sneak up on me like that or next time you might just find a kunai sticking out of your chest."

"Kukuku, of course Mitarashi-san. My apologies."

_'Naruto-kun, Anko-chan, watch out for that Kusa Kunoichi. Her chakra levels are way too high to be a genin and she wasn't even momentarily fazed by your interesting genjutsu show with Ibiki. She isn't someone we want to mess with right now.' _Kanatsu warned them, her tone sharp and cold for once to impart the wisdom of following her words of guidance.

_'Works for me Kana-chan, thank you.' _

_'Is her chakra levels higher than mine are at Kanatsu-chan?'_ Anko asked, sizing up the woman.

Kanatsu gave the mental shake of the head towards Anko, _'Her chakra reserves are slightly over the requirement for it to be Kage-level reserves from what I can tell even though she's trying to block most of it.'_

She nodded in response before getting all the Genin to sign their contract papers and got ready to charge into the Forest of Death. "Guys, if we come across the Kusa team with the Kunoichi with a long tongue, _run_." Naruto imparted the words of warning that he had recieved.

"Ready, get set..." Anko waited a few seconds before waving it off and walking away, "Go already."

_**XXX-XXX**_

Day One of Five, Team 11, Forest of Death

Deciding to go throug the trees, Tean 11 began to veer off towards the left where they would either detect one of the two Ame teams or catch another team unawares. Their efforts were not rewarded as it seemed that they either went another direction away from the tower or a longer roundabout way.

"Let's just start advancing towards the Tower and lay in wait for a team to pass by." Shinto suggested, making Naruto look at him in puzzlement.

Rei let out a laugh -a slightly dull laugh but a laugh nonetheless- at Naruto, "Shinto-nii does make good ideas sometimes." The blonde team leader nodded before jumping ahead...

Only to find they were going in circles.

Almost at once, the Ame team they wanted, the ones with the bodysuits yet no masks appeared. "You've been in our genjutsu for a few minutes now. Give up or we'll kill you now." Laughter met his request as almost instantly Shinto, Rei and Naruto all violently pulsed their chakra to break the genjutsu revealing the three almost upon Team 11 with a kunai in hand.

The blonde team leader rushed the one in front of him, the one who had spoken out to Team 11, throwing a debilitating jab to his right arm's inner part of their elbow that was holding to kunai. Immediatedly he dropped the kunai and grabbed the arm in pain with the other before Naruto threw a punch to his stomach, before grabbing the Ame nin's head and having it meet his knee. With a sickening crack the genin fell unconscious from having his arm half useless, a bruised stomach and a broken nose.

Shinto summoned his zanbatou and charged the genin, his black trench coat flapping behind him. He spun to the right, dodging the kunai thrust before swinging the flat side of the zabatou towards the genin's back in the hopes that he would duck to try to protect his head which would be anyone's assumption. Either way it would do damage, but Shinto's plan worked and the Genin dropped to the floor but a second too late as the zanbatou barely skinned the top of his head. He rolled away, shaking his head to clear the dripping blood before taking a roundhouse kick to the jaw, knocking him out.

The medic of the group waited instead of charging the genin making him assured that he would have an easy hostage.

He would regret that assumption in the morning.

Just as he was in range of Rei to attack her, her hands now holding chakra scalpels. Her hands flashed as the genin lunged, cutting the muscles in his arm and hand of the offending limb. It limply fell towards his side before her right hand flashed green in front of his face, inducing a forced sleep to the genin.

They quickly looted the Ame nin of their possessions, a few spare kunai, shuriken, explosive tags and a pair of scrolls needed to pass the exams. "Looks like they got busy while we were waiting for them." Naruto thoughtfully stated.

"At least the plan worked. Why did you assume they'd use genjutsu though?" Shinto asked, remembering when Naruto flashed them the plan.

_**XXX-XXX**_

Flashback - Twenty Minutes Ago

As the trio where jumping through the trees, Naruto grabbed their attention and flashed them a few signals with his hands that Anko had taught them. "_If we get caught into a genjutsu, flare your chakra along with mine if they appear.'_

_**XXX-XXX**_

Flashback End

"Let's find a place to rest for the rest of the day before advancing. I don't want to be caught offguard by any ninja because we're tired." Naruto suggested in a way that sounded more like a passive command. The suggestion was met with acceptance and they found a secluded area in the forest where they could rest.

Shinto went through several hand-signs before slamming them into the ground, "Doton: Tōsei Hausu (Earthen House)!" A rumble shook the grounds as a small house, no bigger than two of the apartments that Naruto lives at rose from the ground. Rei then added a genjutsu layer of defense to hide the house should anyone come searching before they all went in, setting traps on the inside and some on the outside via Kage Bunshin incase any intruders came searching for them.

_**XXX-XXX**_

Day Two of Five, Team 11 (Midmorning)

*Rumble*

"What was that?" Naruto's eyes began darting around before hearing a snarl go off in his mind from Anko then utter silence from her end.

_'Anko-chan? Anko, are you there?!'_ Naruto's eyes widened as her response came.

_'Run from the... Kusa nin... he's Oro...'_

The words came rushing from his lips to his teammates, "Shit! Anko-chan's in the forest, we need to get to her now!" _'Kana-chan, Saiku-chan, can you pinpoint where Anko-chan is at?'_

It took all of two seconds for Kanatsu to figure out the direction, _'She's north of where we're at, hurry. Saiku and I will rush ahead of you to get to Anko-chan.'_ Two poofs of smoke appeared next to Naruto before the duo seemingly vanished in pure speed.

With that Naruto focused his chakra into his legs, dashing towards Anko and leaving his teammates behind who were just barely beginning to follow him. Yet before he could travel any closer he heard laughter echoing throughout the trees. Naruto stopped running, his teammates now far behind.

"Kukukuku..."

A tall figure arose from the tree branch, not twenty feet away from Naruto directly in his path towards the fallen Anko. "So you are Naruto Uzumaki. My, my you actually look somewhat threatening." The male chuckled, the chuckle coming out as more of a hiss than a chuckle though. Naruto didn't have the time to be chatting to this person and tried to run around him only to jump back from avoiding several snakes.

The jinchuuriki's eyes widened as he jumped back from the snakes to his original spot, "Who the hell are you?! Only Anko-chan and Orochi... maru..." A cold, sickening realization dawned upon Naruto as he beheld the Snake-Sannin in front of him.

"Kukuku. You finally figured out who I am." Orochimaru stared down Naruto, Killing Intent weighing down the struggling blonde like several tons of force pressed against his back. The snake-sannin began pacing towards the blonde at a sedate pace, not particuarly worried about time while Naruto struggled against the invisible bonds holding him in place. "You seem weaker than I thought if you can't break through that." he commented as if it were a casual conversation before Naruto savagely bit the tip of his tongue and almost as if it were a switch, the oppressive weight vanished from Naruto.

He took advantage and jumped back from the Snake-Sannin, his hands flashing as fast he possibly could, "Katon: Ōbubāningu (Burning Orb)!" An orb of condensed fire appeared in Naruto's hand that he chucked towards Orochimaru. It flew through the air and struck the Sannin with explosive force, exploding entirely on impact. When the smoke disappeared, nothing was left in the place Orochimaru was standing in except the branch that looked like someone had spent time carving out a crater into it.

"I knew you'd be something interesting Naruto-kun. I'll tell you what," The Sannin's voice called out to Naruto from a branch to the blonde's left, "If you beat me, I'll tell you what I did to little Anko-chan." His voice was light as if speaking about the weather, yet the words and tone enflamed Naruto. He felt buzzing in his mind, yet he ignored it in favor of focusing on the fight. How dare he play with Anko's life like a game to be played?! Naruto reigned in a portion of his anger to focus on the fight, a tactic that was beaten into him from Team 11 as whole. It did no good to have the anger cloud his thinking and decision making in a fight that could very easily cost him his life.

He made several hundred Kage Bunshin, over half of which charged the Sannin along with the original Naruto whereas the other portion spread around the duo throwing ninjutsu towards Orochimaru. They began replacing each other with the limited chakra when they dispelled to inform the blonde which spots were going to be attacked and which were safe. A destructive strategy no doubt, but it would get the scratch he needed for the pale Sannin to tell him about Anko.

Orochimaru's eyebrow rose questioningly as the area was covered in smoke before he was assaulted with hundreds of Kage Bunshin. _'The blonde gaki has feelings for little Anko-chan if he's going to these lengths to just get a scratch on me.'_ He easily deduced from Naruto's actions as a smirk grew on his face, _'This will be a nice warmup so long as I don't throw my chakra around too much though I might have company soon if the gaki keeps throwing these jutsu around. At least his teammates won't interfere so I can have plenty of fun with the gaki.'_

Orochimaru jumped over a pair of charging Narutos, kicking them in the back of the head before using his superior flexibility to bend backwards and jab a clone that tried a flying kick in the chest. His eyes narrowed as several ninjutsu were yelled out.

"Futon: Windserpent no ikari (Windserpent's Ire)!"

"Futon: Nōzansāpento (Northern Serpent)!"

"Katon: Ōbubāningu (Burning Orb)!"

Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu (Art of the Phoenix Flower Technique)!"

The Snake-Sannin used Kawarimi (Substitution) to avoid the wave of air with a Kage Bunshin of Naruto, watching it fly up and away some distance away, becomming cut up from the winds and dispelling. Avoiding the Nōzansāpento (Northern Serpent) proved to be a smart idea as he charged into the fray of clones, dispelling them as he charged through, intent on finding the original that had hidden himself in them. The jutsu itself created an entirely wind serpent with wings, flying towards Orochimaru, swallowing all in its path and watching as those inside the serpent become sliced with the blades of wind inside the stomach of it before disappearing after thirty seconds. With the brief respite from the jutsu before the fire reached him, he began a dance of death with the clones. Every move he made was one used to attack. Orochimaru ducked under a clone, jabbing the one in the stomach before throwing both jabs and kicks, knees and even the occasional headbutt to keep them off guard.

As the third jutsu, Ōbubāningu (Burning Orb) reared its numerous burning heads again, Orochimaru allowed them to fly towards him along with the numerous fireballs that followed from Hosenka no Jutsu (Art of the Phoenix Flower Technique). Just as they were about to hit and explode, he vanished once again, letting it explode into the fray of clones, taking them out for him.

He appeared once again some distance away from the remaining 'Taijutsu' clones as he dubbed them, he took in a breath of air and spit it out forming an elongated horizontal wave of chakra laced air, Futon: Daitoppa (Great Breakthrough) towards the 'Ninjutsu' clones. With sickening glee, he watched the majority of them poof into smoke before seeing only a scant few Kage Bunshin left over.

"Kukuku," He chuckled at the blondes, cracking his neck experimentally, "You made me actually move quite a bit there. And those jutsu I haven't seen before except for the Hosenka no Jutsu. Are they original?" He fished for information about the jutsu, watching the various Narutos become engulfed in smoke. The air became both warm and cold, holding a mixture of the two as Orochimaru stared on, intent on discovering the secrets Naruto held.

"Oh and Orochimaru, look at your left arm. I believe that I did manage to cut you so start spilling!" Naruto roared, brandishing Jigoku no Honō (Blaze of Hell) and Shi no Ibuki (Breath of the Dead) in both hands, the clones doing the same.

The only reason Naruto was able to weild both at the same time was due to reducing the weight of Jigoku no Honō to its bare minimum to be able to hold it in one hand and the training both Saiku and Kanatsu gave him to weild both if the need arose. Naturally it was a hard concept to learn, learning how to dual-weild a zanbatou and a katana at the same time, but Naruto slowly learned how to weild them to an acceptable level together.

"Oh, you did manage to cut me and you're a Kenjutsu user as well. Maybe I'll give you a challenge with my own blade, kukuku." Orochimaru gutterly chuckled as opened his mouth much like a snake would devour its prey, and a snake with his own blade, Kusanagi (Grass Cutter) in its mouth, barreled towards Naruto from the Snake Sannin's neck at speeds that were faster than the Taijutsu spar he had witness not four days ago. His eyes widened as his eyes barely percieved the threat flying towards him, lucky that Jigoku no Honō was already in a 'ready' position, moving the zanbatou upwards enough to intercept the blade. Almost immediately as it impacted, Naruto flew back from the force behind the attack right into the tree.

*CRACK*

He impacted the tree like a wet rag doll, numerous spiderline cracks originating from where Naruto hit the tree. Another lightning fast jab of Kusanagi flashed from Orochimaru's mouth, intent on impaling the blonde into the tree from the stomach only for a silver flash to intercept the blade.

*CLANG*

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed as he beheld the silver-haired woman's appearance that blocked his Kusanagi. That only proved she was near his level, if not over his. It was time to end the fight and flee but not without giving Naruto a hard time for his plans later on.

_'Naruto.'_ Kanatsu's voice, both colder than a raging snowstorm and harder than steel, _'When we get out of this place, you will learn not to ignore my words of fleeing.' _She mentally sighed at the now dejected blonde. So many things the Snake-Sannin could have done to him while she was away with Saiku on the otherside of the Forest helping Anko. At least Anko would live and Naruto was alive, albeit, not for long after she taught him not to ignore her warnings that would help him live longer.

"I know all in the Elemental Continents who could actually stand up to me and you are not a part of that list. Who are you?" The Snake-Sannin's tone was what one would expect from the traitor of Konoha and one of the Sannin, both cold and analytical.

Her eyes pierced his with a frightening gaze on her own, "That is none of your business Orochimaru. Leave now while you can before you will never have the chance again." Slitted-eyes narrowed further at her words. She, threaten him?

The pale Sannin vanished from sight in pure speed, hundreds of snakes, each with the Kusanagi blade protruding from their throats, gleaming as drips of venom dropped from the blades. They barreled towards her from all directions. Kanatsu easily dispatched all of them, side-stepping the ones that would impale her as the venom would no doubt be painful until her eyes narrowed in rage as she realized it was a distraction. Dashing towards Naruto where Orochimaru was standing, she was nearly upon the Snake-Sannin and ready to behead him before his fingers became lit with an unholy purple fire as they slammed into the still stunned blonde's stomach, "Gogyo Fuin (Five Elements Seal)!"

He disolved into a puddle of mud after uttering the Fuinjutsu technique, intent on fleeing the area as Anbu were beginning to inspect the Forest of Death for his presence. Had Orochimaru stayed he would have beheld Kanatsu's eyes widening and a loud cursing permeate the air as she was forcibly sucked back into the seal along with Saiku who had just dropped Anko off at the tower in the middle of the forest for immediate treatment.

Both Shinto and Rei finally reached the blonde and beheld the area in which Naruto and the Snake-Sannin fought, looking worse for the wear with their altercation with the Snake-Sannin's Kage Bunshin. The area was littered with large indents in the wood, branches both broken in half and still burning. The brother and sister both approached their unconscious blonde teammate with an analytic stare before Rei began healing him, raising an eyebrow at the additional seal over his Shiki Fujin (Corpse Demon Seal Exhaustion) before Shinto hoisted the blonde over his shoulders to an area away from their current one.

Their orders were absolute, protect the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki at all costs and do not let him die for the Chuunin Exams. They nearly failed once now; they would not fail again.

_**XXX-XXX**_

Sarutobi's Office, Emergency Jounin Meeting

Inside the old Hokage's office, an emergency meeting was called in response to Anko arriving at the hospital in the Forest of Death's tower being carried by Saiku and half-conscious at the time with only three words for the Anbu to relay to the Hokage.

'Orochimaru is here.'

As soon as Sarutobi recieved the message, he called every available Jounin in to his office. They all quieted down from their speculation of what could warrant them being called in during the Chuunin Exams as the Sandaime arose from his desk looking every inch to be the Shinobi no Kami (God of the Shinobi). "Orochimaru, one of the Sannin, has infiltrated the Chuunin Exams and has nearly killed one of our Jounin, Anko Mitarashi as one of the Kusagakure teams."

The room's atmosphere was so tense and silent, it could be cut with a dull kunai until Kakashi spoke up, "Do we know his reasons as to why?"

Sarutobi shook his head negatively at the ex-Anbu, "As of yet, no we do not. We can safely assume as of right now that he is going for two things: more followers and a possible invasion of the village during the Chuunin Exams."

"Is it safe to assume that Kusa might be a part of the possible invasion?" Kurenai asked.

"We could assume, yes, but it is unlikely as their team was killed and their skin peeled indicating that Orochimaru most likely wore the skin to infiltrate us just outside the Forest of Death not a few hours ago." Several of the newer Jounin blanched at the thought. What sort of sick demented bastard would willingly do such a thing?

Oh, right... _He_ would.

Asuma spoke up, "Are we going to cancel the Chuunin Exams or allow them to continue?"

Several Jounin proclaimed what a crazy idea it would be to _let_ the exams continue until Sarutobi spoke up again, "We will allow them to continue, and prepare for the possible invasion before it occurs. There is a month before that time will most likely occur and we will need all of that time to properly prepare." He stopped pacing, realizing that he was unconsciously doing so and making the Jounin nervous as a result.

"Arm the younger ninja with the info and protocol in case this invasion occurs but do **NOT** tell them about the likelyhood of it occuring. We do **not** need a full-blown panic on our hands and should I hear even a **whisper** about it before the end of the Chuunin Exams, I will personally find the person and execute them myself after dealing with the riots and mass hysteria. Understood?" Sarutobi spoke with the tone of his killing side, the side that had lived through the Great Shinobi Wars. With a collective shudder, the Jounin agreed wholeheartedly.

"Good, you are dismissed."

_**XXX-XXX**_

Day Three of Five, Team 11 (Daybreak)

A loud groan escaped Naruto's lips as he opened his eyes to gaze at his surroundings with blurry sight. With a start he realized that he wasn't at the battlesite where he had passed out. He caught sight of Rei sleeping across from him from the fire.

_'Kana-chan, what happened?'_ Naruto mentally broadcasting, not recieving any response after several minutes. _'Saiku-chan? Anko-chan, Mei-chan, can you hear me?'_ He heard a faint buzzing and he focused on the buzzing, finally making out the words of mei Terumi.

_'... what happened out there!?'_ she worriedly asked.

Naruto sighed in relief that the bond still worked, '_Can you repeat what you said? I didn't hear the first part Mei-chan.'_

_'I said, It's been a day since Anko-chan was admitted to the hospital in critical care yet she's supposed to make it and there's something blocking me from talking to Kanatsu-chan and Saiku-chan, what happened out there?'_ Mei repeated, antsy for an answer.

_'That's good that Anko-chan is recovering. I thought the worst when Orochimaru showed-'_

Instantly Mei erupted, _'WHAT?! OROCHIMARU OF THE **SANNIN**,WAS THERE?'_

_'Please don't yell, it hurts my head badly.' _Naruto begged before continuing, _'Yes Orochimaru was there. Apparently he had fought Anko-chan and won. She warned us about a 'Kusa nin' that was really him in disguise. Saiku-chan and Kana-chan both rushed North towards Anko-chan before I ran ahead of my teammates. Orochimaru then appeared, fought me and defeated me without even trying and was about to impale me with his sword before Kana-chan came and blocked it. He vanished, sending hundreds of snakes with swords in their mouths towards Kana-chan only to appear in front of me with purple fire on his fingers hitting my seal. After that I fell unconscious and just woke up.' _Naruto summarized what had happened, feeling like someone spread a block of salt on his figurative wound. It didn't feel good to have to explain his fuck-up that would've ended in his death had Kanatsu not saved him.

She mentally sighed at the blonde, _'Naruto-kun, whatever that bastard did to you might have sealed off any access to Saiku and Kanatsu. I'll tell Sandaime-sama what happened,'_ Her voice then turned somewhat... naked, exposed, '_... Don't get hurt Naruto-kun.'_ Mei ended the conversation, blocking the bond.

"Naruto, you're finally awake!" Shinto said, his voice higher and more expressive than it had been over a week ago.

The blonde adopted his trademark vulpine-grin, "Of course I am! Nothing will keep me down for long!" He hid his feelings of guilt rising in his system as he thought of what could've happened to Saiku and Kanatsu. "Let's get out of here and to the tower already! I'm staring to get horrifying visions of our training with Anko-chan..."

_**XXX-XXX**_

After traveling for barely under two hours, Rei caught wind of a _foul_ chakra source that began emanating from a place not even a minute away that was surrounded by two Konoha teams and an unknown team. "Let's go see if they need any help since they're our comrades." Naruto said, staring at his teammates who shot each other a look before agreeing.

They tree jumped towards the area where Rei had detected where the chakra had emanated from. It was coming from Sasuke, only he was covered in black markings and staring at an Otogakure team, two of which were fleeing, one of them on the ground barely moving. Sasuke began slowing approaching her, intent of doing harm. The black-haired girl started crawling away, terrified of Sasuke and angered at her teammates for abandoning her.

Sasuke was nearly upon her, a cold smirk on his face that froze on his face when he heard Naruto's voice yell out, "Sasuke, what the hell are you doing?!" He then adressed his teammates, Neji's team and Shikamaru's team, "And what the hell are you guys doing letting him beat this girl up when she's obviously down and not going to hurt you?!" Naruto jumped down in front of Sasuke, blocking his path against the girl.

"Sasuke-kun, this isn't you! Go back to what you were before you turned into this scary... _thing_!" Sakura's terrified voice rang out to Sasuke, confusing him. He was protecting her and his team right? Then what was scary about it? The black marks began to slowly slither back to a three tomoe'd looking seal on his shoulder as he thought more about it. Sasuke's eyes rolled to the back of his head and passed out in a crumpled heap as the seal pulsed red once before going back to a solid black. His pink-haired teammate rushed from the otherside of the clearing towards the crumpled heap, checking his pulse and sighing in relief.

Turning towards the raven-haired girl who stared at Naruto with no small amount of suspicion in her eyes, Naruto asked, "What's your name and do you need any help getting to the tower? This forest is dangerous and full of wild animals."

"Why are you helping me? To take me in a secret corner of the forest, have your way with me and then kill me?" She retorted back with a question that Naruto looked utterly appalled and disgusted by.

"I'm helping because one, you're hurt and two, why the hell would I do that with you? I'm not some sex-driven idiot that would take a woman just for the hell of it!" Naruto shot back, nulifying any of her arguments on that front as all present nodded in agreement with his words before turning their heads to 'ignore' their conversation.

The girl's expression of suspicion died down, but parts of it lingered as she answered him after she had an internal battle about it, "I'll go with you." she said before adding in a fiery tone, "But if you do anything like _that_ to me I will castrate you with my senbon!"

Naruto nodded and gingerly picked her up bridal style as to avoid hurting her leg that he assumed became injured. He turned towards the other Konoha teams with his trademark smile on his face, "Don't fail and meet me at the tower alright?" Before vanishing in a poof of smoke with the girl in his arms.

Shikamaru sighed at the bipolar blonde, at one point he was serious then cheerful. He had one word for him that all Nara would use to classify the blonde as, "Troublesome..."

Everyone nodded with his comment.

_**XXX-XXX**_

"So what's your name?" Naruto asked once again while Team 11 began jumping through the trees, Naruto in the back to make the girl feel more comfortable that Shinto and Rei were ahead and not behind her.

She took a moment and pursed her lips before finally responding when Naruto assumed that she wouldn't, "Kin."

"Pretty name Kin. The name's Naruto Uzumaki." he pointed to himself with his left thumb and an infectious smile on his face that Kin's own lips twitched upwards once at him before going back to a straight line. "So how's Otogakure anyways? I've never heard of it, is it new?" He noticed her expression grew saddened before she scowled angrily in memory of the place.

"It's a horrible place."

Naruto looked abashed, "I'm sorry for bringing that up."

"It's fine Uzumaki-san." Kin said, slowly warming up to the blonde yet still wary of him. So far she assumed that he was a generally kind and warm person as she watched his face light back up. _'Maybe... maybe I can trust him if he doesn't try anything. It would be nice to finally have someone to trust other than Tayu-chan...'_ Her expression turned sorrowful as she thought of her brash, sailor-talking, red-haired friend, _'She's probably going to die now since Orochimaru-teme doesn't forgive any mistake.'_

"You ok Kin-chan?" She ignored the honorific in favor of enjoying the small warm feeling of someone actually worrying if she was ok even if it was probably not truly worry he was coming from.

"I'm..." What would she say? I'm worried that my only friend is going to become killed because I failed a mission? And even if she IS alive, she'll probably only live until the end of the invasion as her usefulness would be all but gone. "I'm fine." She resorted to saying. Maybe if he turns out to be an actual friend she'd tell him about Tayu-chan and hopefully if he saw her during the invasion -if he managed to live- that Kin is alive so she could join her only friend, away from the Snake-Sannin and wondering whether they'd wake up with a pair of men staring lecherously at them at any given time.

Kin mentally scoffed, _'As if he'd do that to a girl he'd only just barely met, or even known for the month if I can find a place to stay away from Oto.'_

"Well, we're here at the Forest of Death Kin-chan. Do you want me to drop you off to your teamates if they're here?" Naruto noted Kin's fingers clench his arm with a murderous grip.

"No." Her voice hissed out.

Naruto quickly moved to mollify her, "Sorry, my fault. I'll just take you to get any medical care with me since I need to get something checked out."

_**XXX-XXX**_

"These scrolls are summoning scrolls." Rei stated to her team, plus one, "Shinto-nii, open the Heaven scroll as I open the Earth scroll at the same time." They both opened the scroll, throwing them onto the ground where a cloud of smoke appeared. As the smoke cleared, it revealed a grinning Sarutobi.

"Congratulations Team 11, you have passed the second part of the Chuunin Exams." He smiled grandfatherly towards each of them, noting the girl in Naruto's arms. "And it seems you've passed in more than one way Naruto-kun." he perversely added, laughing at the reddening face of his surrogate grandson and the girl in his arms.

"ERO-JIJI!" Naruto yelled at his grandfatherly figure who kept on laughing.

"Uzumaki-san, is this the Hokage?" Kin's disbelieving voice rang out. There was no way this giggling, slightly perverted old man was the Hokage. There _had_ to be another old man who was the serious, deadly man known as the Shinobi no Kami that was the Hokage of Konohagakure.

Naruto nodded, "Yep, this old pervert is the Hokage."

"Naruto-kun..." The old man's warning voice rang out but Naruto ignored it.

"See, you know he's a pervert since he reads pure smut when no one is looking so I guess he's really a closet pervert."

"No ramen for you until the end of the Chuunin exams Naruto-kun."

"But-"

"No buts Naruto-kun. No ramen."

* * *

_Original Jutsu:_

_Burning Orbs (B-Rank): Condenses a ball of fire in a semi-solid case of chakra that the user throws. Upon contact with a foreign chakra source or after ten seconds, it will explode violently._

___Windserpent's Ire (C-rank): User creates a gust of wind, blowing the enemy slightly up and off the ground some distance away from them, slicing them as well._

_Northern Serpent (B-Rank): Creates a snake of pure winds that devours the targets, where -within its stomach- they are beset upon violent winds and slicing whirlwinds lasting only thirty seconds._

_Inu helped with the jutsu, making both Northern Serpent and Burning Orb. _

**So how was it? The Orochimaru / Naruto fight was honestly somewhat hard for me to fight and make somewhat believeable. I had to rewrite it a few times and it's still somewhat iffy to me.**

**Well, you know the drill. Tell me how it was and have a good one!**

**-KuyouFox**


	8. The Preliminary Fights

**Sorry for the long wait my loyal readers haha. I've had a terrible streak of luck running and laziness running rampant. This chapter was fun to write and get back into so I hope you like it heh!**

**Chapter Eight – The Preliminary Fights**

Naruto sighed once again from inside the infirmary. Why did he have to get checked out for no reason after all of his injuries were already healed? Oh wait – his link with Kanatsu and Saiku was shot to shit because of something Orochimaru did to his stomach.

Yeah – Kanatsu was not going to be pleasant to deal with. Same for Saiku now that he thought about it…

An old wrinkled hand shot out to smack Naruto lightly upside the head. "Stop ignoring your elders Naruto-kun." Sarutobi mildly glared at Naruto who pouted in return. He didn't miss anything important while he was thinking – totally not fearing the consequences of listening to Kanatsu.

"I wasn't ignoring you! I was –"

Sarutobi interrupted him with a slight grin on his face, "Acting oblivious to your surroundings, as usual."

The blond glared at his jiji before gaining a victorious smirk, "I learned from the best." Sarutobi shot him a questioning glance that quickly turned into a fearful expression from Naruto's answer, "From you reading the smut under a Genjutsu during the Clan Meetings and don't deny it either! We both know it's true!"

Kin sat ignored two beds away from the bickering duo – The Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi and the blond haired Shinobi, Naruto Uzumaki – with a baffled expression on her face sprinkled with a modicum of amusement as she beheld the close relation of the duo. The baffling part of the situation was how childish that the Sandaime acted to match Naruto yet the logical part of her brain saved and filed the information being bandied about for future blackmail. The most inconsequential piece of information whispered could be worth mountains of gold to the right ears.

If she had a chance to live in Konoha, it would be as if it were a brawl – one that she was going to win even if she had to fight dirty. Returning to Otogakure wasn't an option as it was certain death for her there for failing Orochimaru's direct orders.

She was shook out of her musings when all sound was cut off from around Sarutobi and Naruto with the curtains drawn. What were they doing in there…?

**XXX-XXX**

Sarutobi and Naruto, Several Minutes Ago

"The Silencing Seal is up and the curtains are drawn to prevent anyone from lip-reading either of us," Sarutobi began, slipping into his professional side to smooth along the important conversation. At Naruto's acknowledging nod, the wrinkled Hokage continued, "I have received a brief account of what occurred out there in the Forest of Death from our new Jounin, Mei Terumi, whom is currently engaged in guard duties. Will you shed more light upon this grievous matter?" The way he phrased the question left it sounding more of a direct command to gain the information rather than asking for cooperation from Naruto.

Naruto nodded once more and began to retell of the events that occurred in the Forest of Death in a concise and detailed report.

The manner in which he presented the facts was simple and to the point – easily allowing Sarutobi sift through the information. "So Orochimaru is truly back in Konohagakure territory – most likely planning to cut the legs out from underneath the people who slighted him by getting back at what they hold close – leveling the village, and with an ulterior motive in-case of a failure in young Sasuke Uchiha…" Sarutobi murmured to himself as he raised his hand up to his chin where it stroked the whiskered skin in a contemplative manner. He shook his head, rousing himself from his deep-like trance to address Naruto once more with crystalline clarity.

"You said that Orochimaru struck you with purple flames flickering on his finger-tips where your seal is located – correct?" Naruto nodded at the question with his hope reinvigorated that Sarutobi might be able to fix what the Snake Sannin had done to block his connection with Kanatsu and Saiku along with any other nasty side affects the jutsu had inflicted upon the blond genin.

Sarutobi arose from the bedside chair he sat upon and raised his hand – ah his fingertips grew alight with a purple flickering flame. "Did the jutsu appear like this?" At Naruto's nod, he had nearly every piece of evidence he needed but decided to ensure his deduction, "Naruto-kun, raise your shirt up and manifest your seal."

The blond complied with Sarutobi's wish and raised his shirt up, channeling chakra to his stomach where the seal was located. The Sandaime studied the seal with a piercing gaze before finally proclaiming that his suspicion was correct, "Naruto-kun, Orochimaru used Gogyo Fuin (Five Elements Seal) on you causing several important issues to occur. First and foremost is the blocked connection between you and your tenants that directly correlate with several branching problems to… pop up, if you will. The branching problems consist of your chakra control consistently fluxing to match what your previous reserves of chakra were at which are considerably lower at the moment with Saiku-san and Kanatsu-san's chakra no longer augmenting your own currently. Arising from this problem brings us to your chakra control which will be entirely out of sync with your chakra constantly fluxing and trying to match your previous reserves." Seeing Naruto's face pale from what the seal is doing reinforced Sarutobi's opinion that the Gogyo Fuin active on the blond did nothing good and laid nothing but heaps of drawbacks and detriments upon him.

"Lucky for you I originally taught my students that jutsu so I know – along with the rest of the Sannin – or the counter to cancel out the Gogyo Fuin." Sarutobi snorted in amusement at how quickly Naruto's facial expression changed from pale and in shock from the seal back to original color while a cheery expression appeared.

Naruto quickly urged Sarutobi to use the counter-jutsu, "Hurry up Ji-san! I don't want this seal on any longer!"

"Hmm?" Sarutobi pretended not to hear the blond, "Did you say 'Wait until the end of the Chuunin Exams to remove this seal off of me'?"

Upon looking at Naruto's annoyed expression he viciously fought back a grin and continued to play as Kakashi did to Gai. "Ji-san!" Naruto roared at the wrinkled old man, "Get the damn Gogyo Fuin off of me!"

_'Set, hook and reel…'_ Sarutobi victoriously thought while continuing his ploy with Naruto in a confused voice, "But I thought you'd want to wait for Kanatsu's ire to lessen against you before releasing the Gogyo Fuin." Seeing Naruto's face pale once again nearly made him laugh once again as the blond hurried to hold off on the eventual beat down he was going to obtain from Kanatsu, most likely Saiku as well – and that was counting anything Mei or Anko would do to him!

"No no! Th-That's fine Ji-san! You can wai-"Naruto's hurried speech was interrupted as Sarutobi's purple-lit hand rocketed forward until it was against Naruto's Jinchuuriki seal and exclaimed, "**Gogyo Kaiin (Five Elements Unseal)****!"**

**Naruto was violently shot backwards off of the bed and into the wall through the veil of the curtains – courtesy of an overly cheerful old man who chortled in amusement at Naruto's upcoming predicament.**

**Payback is a pain in the ass, and Naruto was going to feel it big-time for releasing the carefully guarded secret of the Sandaime being a closet pervert. Yes – revenge is oh, so sweet when served cold and unexpected to the recipient.**

**Kin was startled out of her musings of what the Sandaime and Naruto Uzumaki could be talking about when the blond shot towards the wall and slid down slowly after impacting it with an audible thump. She immediately turned her eyes towards a new sound permeating the air only to find it was the Sandaime chuckling at Naruto.**

**She managed to find her voice and asked, "Um… what happened to Uzumaki-san?"**

**Sarutobi turned towards her with a smirk playing on his face and simply stated one word as Naruto brought himself to his feet, "Payback." **

"Ji-san…" Naruto started to form a sentence of numerous threats to violently prank the Hokage and enjoy the reactions from the public before he violently paled as a crack of white smoke appeared in front of him with an ominous voice emanating from the cloud of smoke.

"Oh Naruto-kun~…" Kanatsu grinned fiercely at the terrified form of Naruto shaking on the ground, "Time for your punishment for not listening to me~…"

"Don't hurt me! Don't hurt me! Don't hurt me!" Naruto chanted the words like a mantra – praying that it would save him from the utter depths of hell before he heard several clicks that were oddly familiar to him along with several other sounds. He cautiously opened his eyes and was shocked to find Kanatsu sitting on the bed giggling with a hand delicately covering her mouth with Saiku and Sarutobi comparing pictures they had taken with a camera.

"No no Hiruzen. _This_ one really captures the moment," Saiku paused for a moment to show her pointed teeth in a fearsome grin towards Naruto that sent shivers down his spine before continuing, "Plus it gives me an amazing punishment to be used against Naruto-kun!"

His eyes widened as Sarutobi nodded sagely in agreement with Saiku's declaration. "I must say, that one does capture the fetal form very well."

They turned away from the photo to look at Naruto – only to see several cracks of smoke to engulf the room entirely. Several seconds later the smoke cleared away to show several different Naruto's, each with an incriminating photo of himself in both hands that were ripped into shreds via Wind Manipulation. "Hah! Now you can't do anything with… the… photos…"

His deep voice faded away as Saiku pulled out several copies of the photos from between her breasts inside the kimono. "When the hell did you manage to do that?!" he exclaimed as Saiku merely grinned in return.

"I'm a Kitsune. What did you expect Naru-kun?"

"Good point…"

"Oh and Naruto-kun," Kanatsu called out, "Don't think I haven't forgotten about your punishment. It will simply be more training…" Naruto breathed a sigh of relief before hearing the next part, "I will be taking over your reflexes and eye-perception training instead of little Anko-chan, and I won't be holding back… At all." Saiku and Sarutobi momentarily cringed at her words.

Even Kin had to grimace at her words – Naruto was screwed even though she had no clue who Kanatsu was other than she was an extremely powerful woman. That, and eye-perception and reflex training was always painful.

Just more so for the blond.

**XXX-XXX**

Several Hours Later, Abandoned Tower in the Forest of Death

"This tower has many rooms." Kin commented as she, Naruto, Kanatsu and Saiku – the older women being in their respective animal forms – explored the tower in an attempt to find some rooms to sleep in after conversing with Sarutobi for an hour before he had to return to the Hokage Tower to setup covert preparations and plans for the great possibility of an invasion occurring. During which time, they found out the condition Anko was in – after her scuffle with Orochimaru – was stable and recovering. Naruto, Saiku and Kanatsu breathed a sigh of relief at that tidbit of information, though you could hardly tell Kanatsu sighed at all.

The medics gave Sarutobi an estimate that she would awaken when the Second Exam ended – in two days time, just before he left to check up on Naruto in the Abandoned Tower.

Naruto had to agree with Kin's statement – the place had a lot of rooms. In fact, there was a room for nearly everything in the Tower in regards to training or relaxation. The kicker was that they had only explored two floors – the first floor being ground-level and the second floor where the Infirmary was held at.

"Well, there's only the third and fourth floors left so I'm guessing we'll find probably a dojo as the third floor and our rooms on the fourth." Naruto deduced from the lack of any good sparring areas and pure common sense. Who wanted to be roused from their slumber by the ceiling trembling and shaking every time someone's sparring partner went a bit too far and slammed their opponent too hard onto the wooden floor? But then that also raised the question of why wasn't it on the ground-floor then?

Naruto paused for a moment before simply shrugging his shoulders. Food for thought for another time.

With the deduction from Naruto, Kin had to agree with what they had seen so far with a slow nod. It made sense, but what didn't make sense to her wasn't involved with the rooms in the Tower – it was both the wolf and fox named Kanatsu and Saiku respectively. Why did they hide their true forms – to her at least – behind a façade of being Ninken to Naruto?

_'I know it involves Uzumaki-san but I have a feeling that it goes deeper than what I'm thinking. What is their purpose being here with Uzumaki-san in the Chuunin Exams then? I can already tell that Kanatsu-san is incredibly strong – the same going for Saiku-san based on the way Sandaime-sama was acting cautiously around the duo. Maybe they are his teachers, but going on that same note implies that they would be known by at least several seedy individuals who would've sold their information to the highest bidder to get put into the Bingo Books for a capture on sight reward. But that raises another question of why did they allow me to see their true forms if they were in hiding? Just who are you Uzumaki-san?'_ Kin wondered to herself as her thoughts continued to wander around the enigma surrounding the trio she was accompanying.

During the time she was immersed in her thoughts Naruto was immersed in conversation with Saiku and Kanatsu.

_"Kana-chan, Saiku-chan,"_ Naruto addressed the duo, _"How hard would it be to learn_ Gogyo Fuin _and would it be able to affect anyone who doesn't have… 'Tenants', I guess, would be the right word to say."_

_"I personally have no experience with the _Gogyo Fuin _as I have never needed to use, nor required its applications. From what I can tell of the Jutsu itself though, is that it can disrupt one's Chakra flow for an indefinite amount of time depending on the amount of Chakra residing in the recipient. If you used the _Gogyo Fuin _on a Shinobi with Genin-level Chakra Reserves, it wouldn't disrupt their Chakra Control for longer than several seconds, but the shock of having their Chakra flow interrupted would most likely cause them to initially black out for several moments."_ Kanatsu explained.

At that point Saiku interjected herself into the conversation, _"So if it was used on an enemy with the Chakra Reserves of a Kage, it wouldn't cause a black out as they are used to such injuries that inflict Chakra disruption, but their Chakra Control would be shot for the rest of the fight?"_

_"That is correct Saiku-chan."_ Kanatsu gave a slight smile at her friend's intuition. _"And to answer your question Naruto-kun, I have no clear idea as to how long it would take to learn the technique, let alone have it battle ready for any usage outside of controlled environments."_

Naruto seemed to deflate at the words and for good reason. It had fairly good combat specializations that could be used at a moment's notice. _"Do you know if there's any way to remove the seal?"_

_"What do you exactly mean by that Naru-kun?"_ Saiku's inquisitive voice asked.

_"Say the _Gogyo Fuin _was used against me." _Naruto began, "_Is it possible for me to remove the seal or is a third party required to remove it?"_

Kanatsu thought about his question for several moments before responding, _"That line of thought has merits to it and it has quirked my curiosity greatly. We'll have to test several methods such as having a complex seal that can store a portion of a 'Tenants' Chakra and expel it violently to counteract the _Gogyo Fuin._ We can explore the various routes at a later time."_

_"Of course we can. Only now Naru-kun has to deal with a girl wanting to stay near him heh…"_ Saiku's teasing voice broke the silence that accumulated over the brief period of time of finding the rooms.

_"Wait, WHAT?!"_ Naruto exclaimed.

_"You might want to respond to little Kin-san, Naruto-kun. She's appearing worried." _Kanatsu benignly stated with a hint of amusement filtering through her words.

"-maki-san. Uzumaki-san!" Kin exasperatedly repeated the blond's name only to finally receive a reaction from the otherwise stoic-acting blond.

He blinked before grinning at her, "Gomen (Sorry), I was preoccupied with my thoughts. What were you saying Kin-chan?"

Kin shook her head at his air-headedness. _'Why do the strong ones have to be so odd'_ she thought to herself. "I was asking if it would be too presumptuous to…" She hesitated, "Allow me to sleep in your room." Kin hurried herself to give a reason, "Mainly because I don't want to watch my back from my teammates."

Naruto frowned at her reason – it didn't quite make sense. Why would she wish to trade one backstabber for a potential one? Not to mention the fact that she could be a backstabber herself. Nevertheless he acquiesced to her proposition – if there were certain prerequisites to it of course. "Alright, but what's to say you won't stab me in the back while I am asleep?"

She quickly realized what he was getting at – she was an unknown risk so it wasn't out of place to ask for reassurance for one's safety. Kin pursed her lips before gingerly taking her senbon pouch off of her white and black camouflage pants along with the few kunai she thought of to bring out of her pale green vest and offered them to the blond. "There are my weapons Uzumaki-san." No matter how high the cost, she needed to gain his trust so as to gain an ally in the place she was hoping to eventually call a sanctuary.

Despite any previous misgivings, Naruto knew at that point she was serious. No Shinobi or Kunoichi gave up their weapon – it just wasn't done. The very concept was almost anathema to the Ninja population of the Elemental Continents as it helped to ensure your very well-being. To give that security away meant putting your trust into that person. He gravely nodded and pocketed them away into a Sealing Scroll before going to the farthest room down the long, narrow corridor of the top floor.

They entered the rather plain room, only seeing four rolled-up futons in a small cubby on the side of the room in the otherwise barren room.

"Wow, they really skimped out over the aesthetics of the room…" Naruto stated as he stared across the white room with wooden floorboards and only a window showcasing the blackened Forest of Death with the occasional flash here or a tree rustling violently. Not a fun place to be.

… Especially in the night.

He heard a scoff come from across the room where the cubby was at. "Of course they're going to skimp over the aesthetics in a tower that appears to be only used for training purposes before being abandoned." At the logic presented, Naruto couldn't help but nod in agreement.

Naruto turned around to see that Kin was just finishing the final touches of laying out two of the four futons on either side of the room with Kanatsu and Saiku already in the process of claiming the one closest to the door. "Thanks for setting the futons down." Naruto smiled in his typical vulpine-like way. He strolled his way over to the one Saiku and Kanatsu were at and unconventionally plopped onto the bedding, scaring the half-asleep Saiku who glared daggers at Naruto for interrupting her attempt to fall asleep.

Kanatsu sighed at the duo before curling up to sleep in the wolf form for now. Even though Kin had seen their original forms, it was best to keep her off-guard for now. No need to give more information than necessary.

_"Where did Shinto and Rei-chan disappear to?"_ Naruto errantly thought before shrugging. _"They'll be fine!"_ he decided to himself.

"So Kin-chan," Naruto began, "Might as well get to know each other if we're going to be bunking with each other for the next two nights. My name's Naruto Uzumaki, I like ramen and dango – ramen is better, training to better protect those close to me and doing a successful prank. I'd have to say I dislike very little except for the idiots too stuck in the past to see the now along with the scum of humans. My dream is to see Konoha become something better than it is. An ambition I have is to have a family I can call my own."

Kin stared at Naruto for several seconds before finally responding, "That was interesting enough to hear. I might as well go ahead then. My name is Kin Tsuchi. I like Tayuya-chan, apples and studying Genjutsu. I absolutely detest Orochimaru and Otogakure as they are the some of the lowest echelons of Humankind in existence. My dream and ambition is to find a better place to live with Tayuya-chan, hopefully Konoha in that regard." Maybe a bit too much information on her part but it helped to hold little secrets.

"Maybe I could help you join Konoha by setting you up to talk with the Old Man." Kin's eyes seemed to twinkle at the good fortune, "But in the meantime, I know some really good Orchards that have the most deep red apples."

"Really? The apples in Otogakure are absolutely horrendous and the main food staple there is meat, meat and more meat!" She threw her hands up in the air in exasperation.

"Meat isn't that bad."

"Then how about you try eating that for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner everyday without fail for two straight years since no one could cook worth a damn." She dryly shot back.

"Good point."

**XXX-XXX**

Two Days Later, Ground Floor of the Abandoned Tower

Naruto stared over the small group of Genin in an attempt to find his teammates, finding all of the Genin teams from Konoha passed, Kin's teammates passed. One of the Suna teams had passed, one of which thoroughly worried him – the one worrying him known as Sabaku no Gaara (Gaara of the Sand). From what Saiku had said to him yesterday, the Bijuu could 'sense' or rather, 'detect' each other and either choose to tell their container or ignore the problem entirely.

Gaara held the Ichibi known as Shukaku.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. Where his teammates were at was ranking somewhat higher to him. Where could they be at? At least Anko had regained consciousness and was allowed to go to the Tower. He caught her eye from atop the walkway and returned the smile she gave him.

At least she was alright.

The thoughts were driven from his mind as Sarutobi appeared from a crack of smoke. "Congratulations to all of you for passing the Second part of the Chuunin Exams." He smiled benignly at the crowd of mostly exhausted Genin, "Let me impart a few words to all of you though. Does anyone know the true meaning of the Chuunin Exams?" The crowd shifted in confusion, "The Chuunin Exams were implemented for two reasons. The first being a substitution for the Nations to go to war – it was easier to have the Genin fight it out and showcase their respective Nation's strength. Regardless, before you can progress to the Third part of the Exams the numbers needed to be weeded by nearly half. Hayate will take over from here."

Sarutobi stepped back as Hayate – a man of 175 cm, wearing a black bandana covering his head with the hitai-ate stitched in the front, several errant locks of hair streaming down from the bandana, bags under his eyes and the standard Jounin outfit for Konoha with the Jounin vest stepped forward.

"As Hokage-sama stated, the numbers will need to be weeded *cough* out. So there will be *cough* Preliminary matches." Hayate paused to clear his throat before motioning to the large screen behind him on the upper part of the stone wall, "Your names will be randomly selected. When your name is selected, you will fight a one on *cough* one fight until either one of you are *cough* *Hmhmm* unable to fight by either unconsciousness, calling the match myself as Proctor, or by death. If I call the match and you do not stop, you will be," Hayate paused for a moment to cough, "Disqualified regardless if you won. Killing is permitted although frowned upon. Understood?"

Everyone gave some form of acknowledgment at his words, be it a cool nod or an enraged expression at having to fight so soon after finishing not six – or less – hours ago. They watched – along with the Jounin and Sarutobi – with baited breath for some, a calm, expectant expression for others as names flitted randomly on the screen in two spots before finally stopping on two names.

One Genin groaned loudly with the other shouting loudly in an overly cheery manner with the Genin who knew them snicker at the one's terrible luck.

"Everyone leave to the walkway except for *Hyugh!* Rock Lee and Kiba Inuzuka."

Naruto wasted no time in running up the wall to jump off onto the walkway next to Anko – away from the rest of the teams with the closest being Kurenai's team – Saiku and Kanatsu already waiting for him. He momentarily saw Kurenai roll her eyes at his antics before Anko reintroduced Naruto to her palm to the back of his head. "How many times have I told you to not show off Foxy-kun?" She smirked at the annoyed blond before it melted away to form a small, genuine smile that could be mistaken for a straight face from a distance away, "It's good to see you're okay though."

"You too Anko-chan." Naruto smiled widely at her before asking, "Do you know why Mei-chan hasn't been talking?"

Anko rolled her eyes at the blond, her faux persona returning, "Maybe it's because you have everyone except Kana-chan and Saiku-chan blocked out." Naruto blinked once, twice, thrice before grimacing.

Yep, he was going to get a rather interesting talking to – also known as getting the shit beat out of him.

He shrugged before returning his attention to the upcoming fight after Hayate explained his expectations of a clean – as much as possible for a Shinobi – fight. "I'm betting on the mini-Gai personally." Anko snickered out as she watched the opening charge.

XXX-XXX

Preliminary Fight #1, Kiba vs. Lee

"Remember the rules. Ready?" Hayate managed to cough out as he pointedly stared at both Kiba and Lee in the middle of the large stone room.

Kiba nodded to show his agreement before his impatience began to show, "Hurry up! I want to win!"

Lee, on the other hand, merely frowned in concern at Hayate's health before the frown disappeared with a joyful smile and eyes set in determination, "Yosh! Let us fight to compare our flames of youth!"

Hayate just took that as a 'Ready'.

"Hajime (Fight)!" The sick Jounin jumped back from in-between the two opposing Genin just as Lee snapped forward towards Kiba and Akamaru. Kiba stared stock-still in shock from the speed Lee ran at and paid for his mistake by way of Lee's leg snapping outwards towards Kiba's ribs.

Kiba rocketed at a trajectory that slammed him against the wall, spider-line fractures littering around the area of impact. He slumped to the floor with a loud grunt and a snap that resounding throughout the room that everyone showed show sign of discomfort or glee in. Akamaru ran over to him with a whine while glaring hatefully towards Lee at random intervals.

Lee turned towards Hayate who called the match the match in Lee's favor after striding over to check whether Kiba was conscious or not.

"Rock Lee has won the first Preliminary match of the Chuunin Exams by way of knockout." While Hayate called the fight, med-nin rushed to check on Kiba before putting him onto a stretcher to reduce exasperating Kiba's injuries any further.

**XXX-XXX**

Naruto, Anko, Kanatsu and Saiku

Naruto winced when he heard the snap penetrate the air. "I hope that he makes it through alright."

"I'd say 'I called it', but that was just sad…" Anko sighed at she watched Kurenai jump down to talk with one of the med-nin to ascertain what injuries Kiba sustained, "That's the mini Gai-clone though so I guess it's expected. I wonder how far Gai pushed that kid in training."

"Who knows, but I want to know where Shinto and Rei are at…" Naruto looked around once more to attempt to spot them to no avail. Anko nudged his shoulder with a grin and pointed towards the screen where two more names popped up.

Hayate's voice resonated through the room easily enough with the silence in the air and called out the two names of the next fight, "Naruto Uzumaki and Sabaku no Gaara."

"Looks like you're up Foxy-kun. Don't disappoint." She smirked at him as though victory was absolutely certain. Naruto exhaled a breath to calm down from the shock of facing the other Jinchuuriki in the Exams before replying.

"I never disappoint Anko-chan." Naruto grinned at the purple-haired Jounin before jumping down where Gaara was awaiting. Anko turned towards Kanatsu and Saiku whom were simply sitting and watching the events unfold.

_"Why aren't you two down there with him?"_ She curiously asked them as she turned her head back to watch the fight so as not to miss a single part.

_"Naru-kun asked us not to help with him although he might need it against this Gaara boy."_ Saiku stated worriedly as she stared down the railing.

_"Why would he possibly need your help in this fight?"_ Anko frowned at the fact of missing an important piece of information.

Kanatsu decided to interject with a minute glare shot towards a now fidgeting and extremely nervous Saiku who sat upon Anko's shoulder, _"Because that Gaara boy is the Ichibi Jinchuuriki."_

Anko slowly turned towards the stoic appearing Kanatsu and slightly nervous Saiku with a raging inferno lit in her eyes, "_And you decide to just tell me this NOW?! When he gets out of this fight – _alive! _– I am going to thoroughly beat his ass into the ground."_ The Kunoichi ground her teeth in frustration as she watched Naruto warily watch Gaara. Saiku fidgeted uncomfortably from her ears being assaulted with the sound of grinding teeth. Kanatsu just stared with all the intensity of a hawk from in-between the railing.

Overlooking the fight from the walkway opposite to the screen, Sarutobi worried for the child that was all but a blood-related grandson to him as he knew the child from Sunagakure would be an extremely hard challenge for Naruto to overcome.

**XXX-XXX**

Preliminary Fight #2, Naruto vs. Gaara

As Hayate explained what he expected from the duo, Naruto took a lingering glance around the room to find expectant looks of a good fight, rage – he cringed inwardly when he saw Anko's glare, baited breath for the – for them – unavoidable terrible injuries that were awaiting either of the contestants, and gazes of concern shot towards the blond.

Naruto expelled a breath he didn't know he was holding when Hayate asked if both parties were ready to commence.

"Ready."

A curt nod was all Hayate obtained from the stoic – if slightly homicidal by going from the gleam in his eyes – red-head.

Hayate gave the two opponents a single glance before stating, "Hajime!"

Almost instantly as the sickened Jounin jumped out of the way, both contestants shot into movement. For Gaara, the very sand he controlled from the brown, cracked gourd made of hardened sand shot forth to grip the blond in its insidious grip. Naruto dashed forward with a standard Kunai in hand, dodging the sluggish spikes crafted of sand with little difficulty until he reached the stock-still red-head. He got within striking distance and took the opportunity without hesitation.

He once, twice and even thrice slashed with ferocious intent in the frame of several moments but with each quick slash, sand arose from Gaara's gourd to block the slashes with little effort. Naruto's eyes widened as the sand darted under his guard just as he jumped away and got a momentary grip onto his right arm, squeezing hard enough in that brief second of contact to nearly fracture both the radial and ulna bones in his arm.

Gaara's face twisted with sickening glee as his eyes lit up with a homicidal gleam, "You can put up a better fight than that! Mother demands your blood!" Naruto's eyes narrowed as he noted how much quicker the sand slithered and darted towards him while attempting to block the throbbing pain in his dominant arm.

_'If getting up close won't work I'll have to resort to Ninjutsu.'_ The blond gritted his teeth in annoyance as Shi no Ibuki and Jigoku no Honō would be of little use in this fight. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)!" The room became a veritable smoke field that clear quickly to show that nearly 3/4th of the room was a bright yellow.

What could be described next could only be considered as something from a war. Sand rose from the ground like a great tsunami, swamping a large amount of the Kage Bunshin that simply disappeared in large gouts of smoke to show fifty Katon: Ōbubāningu (Burning Orb) being thrown from all directions along with several Futon: Daitoppa (Great Breakthrough) towards both Gaara and the sand surrounding the red-head in a lazy circle.

In a mighty explosion the Katon jutsu exploded with great force with the added oxygen fed to it from the Futon jutsu. Smoke billowed from Gaara's location in silence for several seconds before a disturbing chuckle that morphed to insane laughter. "Mother was right! Your blood will be worthy enough to spill!"

Naruto stared in shock as little to no damage actually occurred to the insane red-head when the ball of glass sand surrounded Gaara fell apart. The tinkling of glass sand resounded against the silent room as it shattered upon the ground revealing Gaara with slightly singed hair but looking no worse for the wear. His eyes gazed at the shocked Naruto with a crazed glazed appearance in them before sand once again in a gigantic tsunami that threatened to hit even those on the walkways.

"Die for mother, Uzumaki!" Gaara's face twisted with glee as Naruto attempted to avoid the tsunami of sand any way he possibly could but to no avail as the sand swamped him with lightning-quick speed. "Sabaku **Kyu (The Coffin of Crushing Sand)**!" He raised his hands up as the sand mimicked his movement as if he were coordinating an orchestra and brought them down with the sand following the motion and burying Naruto into the crushing grip of the sand.

"SABAKU TAISO (Desert Imperial Funeral)!"

A sickening crunch bounced off of the walls and into the ears of the spectators as they uncomprehendingly beheld the sight of blood slowly puddle amongst the sand-riddled floor where Naruto had been engulfed by the infernal sand for several painstakingly long moments before an anguished cry broke the thin veil of silence followed by several others.

"NARUTOOOO!"

* * *

**Stay tuned until next chapter to find out what happens next eh? =P**

**Have a good one, send a review in and have fun!**

**-KuyouFox**


	9. The Preliminary Fights, Part Two

**Chapter Nine – The Preliminary Fights Part Two**

Sarutobi stared at the sand-littered floor of the exhibition room in shock. His pseudo grandson was… Killed? The very thought seemed to grip his heart and puncture it as if red hot knives were impaling themselves in him as he kept his gaze at the bloody patch of sand. A niggling suspicion in the back of his mind told him the fight was not over as he sharply turned his gaze towards the still wolf and fox forms of Kanatsu and Saiku before smirking in a small and unnoticeable way at the blond's ingenious – yet foolhardy – method of surviving.

As it stood, Anko was in anguish as she saw Naruto become engulfed by the sand then subsequently crushed by the infernal sand. She didn't hear anything as her ears were pounding – not that there was anything to hear at that moment. It was as if the world went quiet and still to her.

_'No. No, no, no… Please don't take another person away from me…'_ She prayed to any deity that would hear her. The Kunoichi felt her heart twist in agony. Anko remembered the same pain she felt now in several rare instances in her life. Her eyes dimmed and memories flashed in lightning-quick motions, going from her parents' death and subsequently leaving her alone; the biting agony of her sensei, Orochimaru, betraying her and leaving her to certain death.

The purple-haired woman felt her hands gripping the steel railing and hearing it groan and bend yet it mattered not to her. All that mattered was the blond-haired Shinobi, buried under that sand. She felt her mouth open and a word scream out, yet she still couldn't hear, nor understand the primal fear given voice. Her mind settled in an instant and a grim determination settled upon her very being. The only thing keeping her from jumping down and ripping that Gaara kid apart, limb-by-limb, was Kanatsu's quick thinking to tackle her to the ground in the brief moment she released the metal railing.

While Kanatsu attempted to mentally break through the haze that clouded Anko's mind, Saiku was left staring at the ground with a prayer resounding through her and a slight misting of her eyes at the spot where Naruto was crushed. _'Get up and fight. Get up and fight you blond bastard! I won't forgive you if you give up here! Not like this!'_

Throughout all of this, the room was left in a state of shock aimed at the reactions of the Konohagakure Jounin. The other Jounin from the Leaf stared on in shock as their comrade who was known for her rough playful, cheerful and – at times – aloof nature shifted to something they didn't recognize or associate with her.

Pain.

Agony.

Despair.

To something they did recognize on at least a minute level.

Grim determination.

Kurenai stared in shock while Anko thrashed against the wolf holding her down, several questions flashing through her mind at once.

How close was the sensei and student?

Why did this affect her so much if they weren't close?

Is she even the same person right now?

**XXX-XXX**

Several miles away on the outskirts of Konohagakure, Mei Terumi was doing all she could to assist in the defensive measures of the village – setting traps, planting false underground tunnels set to collapse underneath, or onto, enemy advancements when she felt a stabbing pain in her mind and Saiku yelling at the blond who unconsciously blocked her out.

_'What's going on in there?'_ She worriedly thought to herself before staring at the work she had already completed and made up her mind.

**XXX-XXX**

Hayate stared at the blood pooling sand with regret. _'A future powerhouse… Dead instead of being able to make the Leaf proud – all for these Chuunin Exams.'_ He remorsefully thought before beginning to open his mouth and call the match. Yet before he could, they all felt a massive spike of chakra and watched as Gaara – still in the same spot with a small, content grin on his face – stiffened as hundreds of Ōbubāningu (Burning Orb) flew at breakneck paces towards the red-head from all angles underneath the sand. Gaara barely manipulated the sand around him to guard himself against the air-roasting orbs that detonated upon impact with his sand, turning it to crystalline dust where struck forcing more sand to be used by Gaara before the ground was expunged in smoke once again.

A unilateral gasp filled the air as they beheld the sight of the battlefield. The ground was littered with bit of shining sand, jagged fissures, flames flickered uncontrollably at random intervals on the pock-marked and blood spattered aimlessly onto the ground from Naruto and the Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clones).

Gaara stood, rasping for air as his sand barely cocooned himself to avoid certain death only to grant him burns up to the second degree upon his singed body that were limited only by luck with his Suna no Yoroi (Sand Armor). "I'm… Hurt?" His voice weak from shock. "Naruto… Uzu-maki…" He rasped in an insane tone before he narrowed his psychotic eyes upon the one who caused his agony, sand wrapping around the left side of his body from the ground, gourd and his trademark Suna no Yoroi.

The sand morphed into a large arm with hooked claws for an appendage for his left arm, his left eye turning black with a yellow sclera for an eye only, legs following the same as the arms with a tail that whipped back and forth in a ferocious manner leaving gouges in the ground behind him.

Kankuro, Temari and Baki shared a worried glance before watching the match unfold.

Kanatsu released Anko to watch the match and Naruto's return with shock and worry as she beheld him. Naruto's left arm, from the elbow down, was a bloody, mangled piece of flesh and bone with hook-like fingers amalgamated together from the sheer strength of which the sand's force exerted. Blood dripped upon the ground with the pitter-patter similar to rain hitting a window from the arm that Naruto detachedly stared at before summoning Jigoku no Hono, setting it alight with fire from feeding chakra into an input and dragging it across his arm. Flames licking his arm as he ground his teeth and eventually roared when the excruciating pain became too much to keep silent about.

**XXX-XXX**

_'Oh no…'_ Anko's eyes widened as she beheld him cauterize himself and witnessed the agony in which he bellowed out. Despite the tactic working, it was never a pleasant experience to go through – one Anko was innately glad to never have to do herself. The pain alone was enough to make the person faint in agony, not to mention having the risk of killing from the overload of pain receptors that the brain shuts itself down from to escape.

How many more times will he put himself at death's door to win this fight?

**XXX-XXX**

_'You fool boy.'_ Sarutobi allowed no outward sign to belay his inward grimace at the pain Naruto underwent. _'The right move – yes – but a foolish mistake to allow it to advance that far but if you die from that, you won't make it to the higher echelons – the higher ranks of being a Shinobi.'_

**XXX-XXX**

Weaving herself through the trees to reach the Abandoned Tower in the middle of the Forest of Death was Mei as she felt a massive spike of chakra, hurrying her efforts to reach the veritable battleground that she felt was ongoing.

She shuddered as she felt an oppressive chakra as she began closing in on the Tower. _'Just what the hell is going on in there?!'_

**XXX-XXX**

The majority of the room's occupants visibly cringed, some – the vast majority being Genin – even releasing their stomach's contents at the sight, sound, and smell of Naruto's roars of cauterizing his wounds shut, leaving the smell of cooked flesh in the air. At that, Naruto kept Jigoku no Hono out and charged the berserk and insane Jinchuuriki as the sand was all but gone, used up nearly entirely from the partial transformation to the Ichibi.

"YOU WILL VALIDATE MY EXISTANCE WITH MORE OF YOUR BLOOD UZUMAKI!" Gaara insanely roared out, barreling down the pock-marked floor to meet the Uzumaki Genin leaving three-toed claw imprints upon the ground with every step.

"Like hell I am!" The blond roared in response as Naruto became a dancing whirlwind with Jigoku no Hono as he already began unconsciously pulled upon Saiku's unholy chakra to both regenerate his charred arm, restore his chakra reserves and to gain a much needed boost in power to best Gaara. The air began to become oppressive and heavy to breathe in as Naruto excluded a Killing Intent that was magnified by her chakra as he gazed about with blood-red eyes.

Naruto swung Jigoku no Hono with augmented strength and met a sand reinforced claw that violently had its sharp points gouged out along with the very tip of his middle finger, spinning around the right claw and jumping over the tail before bring the zanbatou downwards to slash it off, the flames crystallizing the sand it came into contact with. Despite gaining the momentary advantage, Naruto did not expect Gaara to recover from having parts of his claw and his tail – from the base – sliced off and executed a strong kick with his left leg that sent Naruto flying backwards, two of his bottom-left ribs fractured but already on the mend from the Bijuu chakra.

Inwardly cursing, Naruto breathed in several sharp intakes of air before feeling the ribs slowly grind back into place. The blond shoved the pain to the back of his mind as per Anko taught him and slashed Jigoku no Hono horizontally as a medium to use a modified version of Katon: Bakufū (Blast Wave) to expel a wave of flames that eagerly ran across the ground to find substance to burn, finally finding Gaara's charging form and igniting the sand, burning the open patches of skin that were not covered by the pale brown sand.

Gaara roared in pain and called upon the sand from underneath the stone blocks to augment his defense as well as to manipulate the dirt and sand to throw up spikes of hardened sand at Naruto that were dodged at the last second yet still managed to lay out a clean wound on the backside of his retreating calf. Smoke began releasing itself as the wound began closing at an incredible rate.

Naruto glanced once at his black-flecked arm and attempted to flex it, feeling an unwelcome throbbing pain from the nerves that were regenerating along with the bone that was fusing itself together with the fragments and the veins being reconstructed all the while dancing around the spikes with moderate difficulty with adrenaline beginning to wear off.

_'I need to end this now.'_ Naruto cursed as he still barely twitch his fingers. _'Just a little while longer…'_ He amended to himself while ducking under a claw-shaped projectile of sand and charged the now rampaging amalgamation of sand.

**XXX-XXX**

Sarutobi turned just as Mei Terumi appeared next to him in a violent puff of smoke tinged with a magma's hue and beheld the ground floor of the battlefield between a gravely injured Naruto and a red-haired child that appeared to look like an amalgamation of a miniature version of the Ichibi. She turned and spoke with palpable rage, "Just what the hell is happening down there Hokage-sama?! I felt the same unholy chakra that Naruto is excluding from my position in the Forest when I was fast approaching!"

The wrinkled man's voice spoke in a final tone with an underscore of unease emanating from them – from what she could not decipher at that very moment. "A battle between two Bijuu and their containers – a battle of Jinchuuriki that we dare not interrupt." A glance at Saiku showcased his point as her fox form's facial expression was scrunched up in extreme concentration. Next to her was Anko who stared with the intensity of a hawk watching its prey upon the battle and most importantly – Naruto and did not waver in her concentration when Mei charged in. Whereas Kanatsu seemed to be unaffected with only a slight glint in her eyes that hinted at her true emotions – worry was it?

They focused back onto the fight; Anbu beginning to silently appear and lie in wait for their leader's commands should the battle take a turn for the worse.

**XXX-XXX**

Naruto ducked and spun under Gaara's outstretched left arm that threatened to strike him and swung the zanbatou upwards and hacked off the offending limb before jumping out of reach from the right's offending grasp. Gaara growled with rage and grabbed the arm and threw it with malice, tendrils of sand reaching for Naruto who – despite seeing the blow coming – barely ducked underneath the arm of sand as it flew by, the tendrils managing to shave off several blond hairs.

The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki felt the Saiku's chakra slowly ebbing away and experimentally attempted to clench his left hand's finger and grinned widely as he felt them move with full mobility despite the excruciating pain he felt in doing so. He quickly sealed Jigoku no Hono and began to avoid the blasts of sand coming from Gaara, hands flashing in a series of hand seals. Flames that began scaling to temperatures hotter than that of Jigoku no Hono's in a matter of seconds.

Naruto began grimacing in pain as the flames began licking his skin in a none-too-pleasant manner as it formed into a silhouette of a fox in red-black flame and charged the enraged Gaara, avoiding a vast majority of the spikes of hardened sand that threatened to impale him. Despite his efforts, several did manage to impale themselves upon the blond yet with the cloak of fire surrounding him; it limited the amount of penetration to avoid fatalistic damage but it still pained the blond nonetheless. Gaara stamped his sand-made claw of a foot onto the ground and encased himself entirely in the sand, blue veins everywhere along his body.

"**COME AND MEET MOTHER UZUMAKI!**" He bellowed and charged the fox silhouette with reckless abandon. The enraged Ichibi container swung his fist downwards at Naruto who sidestepped at the last second and threw his weight onto his right shoulder and slammed into the read-head's stomach with a violent explosion.

Waiting with baited breath was the spectators who stared speechless at the field when the debris and dust cleared. Naruto was stand – if only barely with scorched and blistered skin and clothes singed to the point of falling apart with the slightest motion – over the prone form of Gaara who stared at the blond with a fearful expression.

Gaara couldn't believe it – he lost. Now he was going to die. "Stay away! I'll kill you!" He fearfully yelled, attempting – and failing – at the blond who reached down and dragged the red-head up. Gaara then heard words he never would've thought he would hear from someone similar to him.

"I'm not going to kill someone like me, let alone someone like me who lives only for killing."

"H-How are you so strong?" Gaara asked while staring Naruto in the eyes. It was hard for him to do so – to looks someone in the eye as their equal or even as their inferior.

Naruto let out a body-wracking chuckle at the question that sent shivers down the other Jinchuuriki's spine. "Because of my desire to protect those that are my family and personal friends is why I'm as strong as I am."

Gaara became pensive for a moment and asked, "Those bridges have long since burned with my family… How would I rebuild such bridges?"

"Be kind to them is a starter. Don't treat them as if they are inferior to you for starters." Naruto chuckled. "Besides, you can at least have a close friend in me." Hayate snapped out of his stupor and called the match as Gaara's eyes widened before slowly closing in unconsciousness.

"Winner – Naruto Uzumaki of Konohagakure!"

Naruto frowned as they were all shocked silent. "Come on now! I deserve at least a little cheering right?" That was the proverbial straw that broke the camels back as cheering came from all, Konoha cheering the loudest for the impressive fight.

Naruto stumbled once before falling onto the ground with his trademark grin in place, momentarily meeting the proud eyes of his Ji-san, Mei, Anko, Kurenai, Kakashi, Kanatsu and Saiku. "Heh… I won…" He said before the inky blackness of unconsciousness took him. Anko and Mei managed to catch him just before he fell onto the ground in a crumpled heap.

On the ledge stood Kanatsu and Saiku who sat, proud of the adversity Naruto overcame facing Gaara before plodding along to meet Anko and Mei's hurried pace to the infirmary for the blond.

**XXX-XXX**

Naruto cracked his striking blue eyes, immediately narrowing them as light ran unfiltered through them. He hissed in pain as he moved to bring his arms up to cover his eyes, feeling an uncomfortable weight wrapped around them. Eyes opened slowly to allow them to adjust to the unfiltered sunlight from the window, not even four inches away from the bed he was laying in.

After biting back a grunt of pain, he shifted his sharp gaze to around the room – a hospital room by the looks of the pale white room with various medical equipment scattered in convenient places for the staff to use unlike the simple infirmary room of the Abandoned Tower. The clean, rectangular room itself was not large, but by no means small at all, only seeming to be small from the lack of space from the hospitable feel added from a couch and several cushioned chairs that were occupied by several individuals. He also noted the sight of flowers on a bedside drawer along with numerous notes to get well from virtually all who was a spectator to the fight.

One caught his eye, being a deep purple. Naruto's eyes widened as he caught the name being Yugao Uzuki. He briefly skimmed over it seeing her wishing him for a quick recovery and an apology for not being about to visit due to Anbu personnel being on constant double-shifts with little downtime available.

Naruto cracked a grin as big as he could – not large at all from the pain and stiffness of not using his mouth for much over some period of time he did not know – after reading the note, staring at Anko who was at the side of his bed afterwards, her head resting comfortably next to his right side, his hand used as a partial pillow. His ears caught a faint rustle of clothing; his head snapping to the sound and caught Mei faintly smirking at him while standing up from the comfy couch she lounged upon.

Her motions shook awake Kanatsu and Saiku in their human forms who immediately rose up, eyes peering intently for any combat – only to find Mei rolling her eyes at their over protectiveness. Only Saiku had the decency to faintly flush from embarrassment as Kanatsu simply kept her eyes shifting before lingering upon Naruto's prone form.

Before Naruto could begin fidgeting from her piercing gaze, Mei's laughter interrupted the tense atmosphere. "This silence is stifling – more so than my Futton (Boil Release)." Laughter came from all the occupants – Kanatsu even giving a genuine light smile and chuckle from behind her hand. Anko blinked her eyes as the noise filtered through her unaccustomed ears and lifted her head to find Naruto laughing with Mei, Kanatsu and Saiku.

"Oh my, Anko-chan is finally awake! I wonder if she liked her sleep on top of Naru-kun..." Saiku deviously smirked at Anko who simply threw a kunai at the inner folds of her trench coat with precise accuracy that lightly sliced a portion of her cheek open. "That was a bit harsh Anko-chan…" Saiku pouted with a sinister gleam in her eye that was interrupted by the flat side of Kanatsu's katana.

"Stop teasing Anko-san in here while Naruto-kun is recovering Saiku. Or shall I remind you of what I can do?" Kanatsu left the open-ended threat hang in the air for everyone but the pale-faced Saiku to decipher.

"So…" Naruto uncomfortably began before being interrupted by Anko smacking him upside the head rather forcefully. "What the hell was that –"He was interrupted once again by Anko embracing him in a fierce bear-hug.

"Don't do something so stupid like that again… I don't want to lose another person…" She mumbled almost intelligibly into his hospital gown, letting loose one of her childhood fears out to bear. That was one thing she wished more than anything – to have and _keep_ someone close to her. Throughout her life she was plagued by important and well-loved figures in her life either abandoning her or dying before their time.

To say the least, Naruto was shocked at how strongly attached she was to him. He never would have guessed her attachment had grown so far. Despite his misgivings at giving a promise that he might have to break in the future, he did so anyways. "I promise Anko-chan." Her head nuzzled closer into his chest at his declaration until Mei coughed. Anko's head jerked back with a faint dusting of pink settling on her cheeks.

"Why don't you share the warmth a little, hmm?" Mei was honestly more than a little jealous at the fact that Anko had the opportunity to spend time with her Naruto but she would damn well make the attempt to spend more time with him now.

She sauntered over to Naruto and plopped – gently – onto his lap, a gleam shined in her eye as she brought her lips atop his own, working furiously to coax his mouth open. Anko balefully glared at Mei before pulling – with great strength but she would never admit it – the auburn-haired woman's hair and planted her own lips upon Naruto's, taking advantage of the fact that his lips were open from shock.

Off to the side stood Saiku looking eager to join in on the fun and Kanatsu who sighed at the trouble the two women were going to cause. And by the looks Saiku was giving Naruto, she would have to deal with that mess as well!

"That would be enough with the immoral acts in the hospital bed. Naruto would like to breath and I would prefer if you not smother him to death with your lips. I believe you would not want me to force my hand now do you?" The two women shot off of Naruto, thoroughly chastised from Kanatsu, internally pleased at how quickly they listened to her without further prompting yet still retained the eerie smile on her face.

"Now that you two are thoroughly finished with your deeds," Her eyes stared down the two pairs that gazed down, "I suggest the two of you converse about your respective actions with each other lest I become involved once again. I'm sure we don't require that, now do we?" She added at the last second with a smile hidden behind a half-clenched hand and disturbing eyes that remained closed for several seconds yet still retained their unnerving additive.

The duo made no motion to move and Kanatsu punctuated on it with a biting chill wafting through the previously toasty room. "I believe that I made it clear you two were to converse your actions with one another to prevent such a mishap again." Anko and Mei all but ran out of the room, Saiku inwardly glad that she did not follow her wishes to join in on the fun as she plopped onto the comfy couch.

Kanatsu then meandered on over to Naruto, allowing out a slight chuckle at his fidgeting. "Don't think I have not forgotten about your actions throughout that little spat. You should have discouraged such actions to persist in such a manner." She admonished the embarrassed blond before pecking him once on the cheek, sitting onto the chair near his side.

Naruto was once again speechless.

"That was for both overcoming the challenge of facing Gaara, the Ichibi Jinchuuriki, and for living in doing so."

"R-Right…" Naruto stuttered out, still in slight shock. Saiku let out a barking laughter that caught Naruto's attention.

"You're more jumpy and nervous than a newborn kit's!" She managed to say in-between breathing and her laughter. Naruto stuck his head in the air and pointedly looked away from her.

"Just like a kit…" Kanatsu murmured to herself before nodding thoughtfully. It did classify Naruto, Mei and Anko quite well she noted after seeing their actions.

_'Maybe Saiku fits that profile as well…'_ She mused to herself as the subject under observation began taunting Naruto.

**XXX-XXX**

Mei and Anko glared at each other from opposite sides of Training Ground Forty-Three – a jagged, mountainous terrain filled Training Ground with sparse amount of trees and a small pond off in the shade of a copse of trees twenty minutes out of Konohagakure by way of a Jounin's easy jogging pace.

Finally, Mei couldn't take the silence anymore. "What the hell is your fucking problem Anko?!"

"My fucking problem is with you!" Anko hissed at Mei who seemed to be shocked at the declaration.

"Me?" Mei scoffed after gaining some of her composure back. "Is it because I'm taking Naruto's attention? I hate to say it but we're both bonded to him so you have no right to monopolize his attention."

Anko balefully glared at Mei with such intensity that it made the auburn-haired woman raise an eyebrow in surprise. "He is all I have! What is your excuse?!"

"I can barely remember my god damn past! I'm only just regaining my memories after Naruto saved my damn life in Mizu no Kuni!" Mei sneered at Anko who seemed to be minutely mollified at the announcement. "This is going absolutely nowhere other than discovering we're in the same damn boat!"

The purple-haired Kunoichi stared Mei in the eye with a glint in them. "Fuck this little chat Kanatsu wanted us to have! I say we just beat the shit out of each other then talk it out!"

"Words that have never been spoken truer!" Mei viciously grinned at Anko before spitting out several globs of lava at the Snake Mistress. Anko weaved expertly through the globs of lava, using her Sen'eijashu (Hidden Shadow Snake Hands) to send several venomous snakes barreling through the air towards Mei.

"A little much sending venomous snakes there little Anko?" Mei teased, waiting for Anko to meet her in Taijutsu.

"What about your Yoton (Lava Release)?" Anko groused. The duo clashed heavily, throwing blows that were countered, dodging or reciprocated with deadly precision. Anko led the initial encounter, her hands straight and ready to jab at vital points.

She ducked under the kick aimed for her head and landed a grazing hit towards a cluster of nerves that did little in terms of damage to Mei's outstretched leg before sidestepping the stomp from the same leg. "Is that the best you can-"Anko was cut off by a crushing right hook that sent her flying several feet back.

Spitting out a glob of coagulated blood was all Anko could accomplish before being pushed onto defense. The purple-haired Kunoichi barely could do anything other than have her hands fly through all the motions she could to avoid and deflect the vast majority of the crushing blows of Mei's lightning-quick appendages.

Anko's eyes widened as she felt the wind while spinning away from a left hook, barely moving her hands in time to guard against her right fist. After sliding back several feet on the unforgiving mountainous terrain, Anko gritted her teeth and attempted to put forth more effort into the Taijutsu brawl.

_'She favors using right and left hooks…_' Anko noted while waiting for the upcoming barrage of blows once again. Once again Mei barreled forward, kicking up dirt and gravel in her pursuit of beating down Anko. The auburn-haired woman threw a feint right hook, smirking after Anko set herself at the last moment for Mei.

Anko cursed as the feint became apparent as she caught an elbow buried in her solar plexus followed up by a spinning backhand to her face that sent her spiraling to the ground several feet away.

Mei lightly panted as she cautiously watched Anko gasp for air and struggle to rise. "How… Are you so much better at Taijutsu now?" Anko panted, trying to stall for time to get some air back into her lungs.

"I'm remembering more of my previous style of fighting and how I trained to get there." Mei cryptically offered in response. "Feel like talking it out yet?" She teased the now smirking form of Anko. Mei felt grin grow on her face as she saw the determined eyes of the Snake Mistress.

"Not even close."

**XXX-XXX**

"Finally out of the hospital!" Naruto sent a glare behind his back in the direction of the sterilized hell as Naruto, Kanatsu and Saiku traversed the rooftops of Konoha in the nighttime at a slow speed.

Kanatsu shook her head at the teen Genin. "Just like a kit…" She murmured once again while keeping pace with Naruto on his left, Saiku on his right to catch him if need be. For once, they were actually in their human forms in the general public areas of Konoha as they felt it wasn't needed to remain in their animal forms any longer – Naruto could defend himself well enough going by how the preliminary fight went.

Along the way to the apartment, Naruto shifted his head to address Saiku. "Saiku-chan," She met his eyes, "What happened with your Chakra when it entered my system? I thought it was supposed to form a cloak of bubbling red chakra and cause more harm than good with peeling skin."

Saiku sighed and answered after gathering her thoughts, Kanatsu listening intently. "What happened back there is what occurs when a Bijuu and their Jinchuuriki work together, or in cases where the Jinchuuriki draws on a small amount of the Bijuu's chakra. This specific case is a mixture of the two." Saiku explained, "You unconsciously drew upon my chakra reserves using the seal as a medium to do so, the same as any Jinchuuriki does. What I did was control the chaotic flow of the chakra to something helpful rather than detrimental. So instead of the chakra cloak forming and you losing your mind to insanity, my chakra was absorbed into your own chakra reserves and used as a super-charged battery.

"In return, you gained healing abilities beyond what a normal Jinchuuriki attains, the chakra reserves were restored completely, and your muscles were augmented by the excess chakra not being used by the aforementioned methods."

Naruto stopped running and stood on the rooftop he was about to jump off of, ignoring the brief spasm of pain from the unexpected breaking with his jaw hanging at Saiku. The Kyuubi began to feel uncomfortable before snapping in a gentle tone.

"What?!"

"You actually talked in a serious way that made sense!" Naruto exclaimed before laughing at the throbbing tic-mark that grew on Saiku's face. "But," He grew serious once again, as did Saiku, "How hard was it for you to control the chakra flow?"

Saiku sighed and stared up at the starry night sky. "It wasn't easy at all Naru-kun, but I wasn't focusing entirely on the flow as well."

She barked out a laugh as Kanatsu interjected into the conversation. "Would it be possible for Naruto-kun to be able to regulate the flow of chakra himself, or by a series of seals that would have the same effect as what you would do?"

Saiku shrugged. "It's possible, but we were going to train him in our respective powers anyways so it would be a moot point for when he can control up to two tails since that was what he was using yesterday." They all jumped off of the roof towards the apartment.

**XXX-XXX**

Suffice to say, the trio did not expect what they saw when they walked into the apartment.

Kanatsu opened the door for Naruto and Saiku, only to find Anko, Mei and Kurenai all sitting around a small table seiza-style with a bottle of Ginjo-shu, an expensive type of sake with a light, fruity taste that was both aromatic – especially to the noses of Naruto and Saiku – and had a refined taste to it. The three women were laughing loudly over a reminiscent moment Anko had in the dango shop she preferred.

Throughout the whole time, it seemed as if Anko and Mei had been whipped after running through an extremely windy forest with cuts all over their visible body; black, blue and purple splotches of bruises spattered on each other, more so in Anko's case – her left jaw sporting the nastiest bruise by far.

"So you managed to somehow throw a dango stick that rebounded off of the wall you were throwing them into and into the pant leg of a civilian who stood up several moments later to leave, his pants ripping at the same time?" Mei asked in incredulous shock before roaring in laughter, the sake helping in no small amount.

Kurenai nodded in agreement, her face tinged red from alcohol and laughing none the less. "You should have seen his face and boxers… He didn't even know why the patrons were laughing their asses off at his kunai speckled boxers!"

Anko was laughing too hard to formulate a response, tears coming out of her eyes from laughter.

Out of the three inebriated women, Kurenai noticed them first. She shakily rose, sauntering over to Naruto. "Hi there… Na-ru-to-kun." She huskily stated in the blond's ear before giggling and heading towards a one way course to the ground had Naruto not caught her.

Kurenai mumbled a few words with a beet-red face from where Naruto caught her. Saiku drowned out her words by noticing the sake and exclaiming, "Why wasn't I invited to taste that Sake?" In the wake of Saiku running over to the still laughing duo who were beckoning Saiku over, Naruto laid Kurenai on the couch where she promptly passed out.

While Anko, Mei and Saiku cheerfully had fun with each other, Kanatsu walked over to Naruto and smiled. "It seems they made up for the better."

"Yeah." Naruto smiled at the bantering women.

"You do realize that tomorrow will begin your training and subsequent punishments, correct?" Kanatsu murmured to the accepting blond. "But in light of your accomplishment of getting to the Third Exam, I have a… gift of sorts that you will need in the future." Her lips twitched upwards as Naruto grinned widely and thanked her.

"Don't thank me yet." She smiled wider, eyes closing contentedly in the cheerful environment. "I'd suggest you go and have fun with them, they want you to come over."

Naruto strode over, turning once to mouth, "Thanks" to her before enjoying the rest of the night with the women, Kanatsu joining several minutes later.

**XXX-XXX**

A group of three black-cloaked and hooded individuals stood amidst a blood-red veritable mist.

"What do you mean, 'Danzo does not have the necessary reagents required for the rift.'?" The smallest of the three stated in a breathy voice more suitable to bedside talk rather than current matters.

The tallest of the three growled in a feral manner. "He means what he states Lilith!" He snarled in a deep, rough voice at the insolent woman in front of him. Lilith merely scoffed at him.

"Peace Anubis, peace." The remaining cloaked individual stated in a deep baritone to his large companion. "What I mean _is_ what I state. Am I correct in this manner Lilith?" A strong pressure slammed onto the shoulders of Lilith, forcing her to her knees.

"Yes… Jashin-sama…"

"Good girl." Lilith growled at the man's impunity, imagining hundreds of ways to torture him as he pat her on the head. "He will have the reagents soon enough from my minions in the human world and _you_, Lilith," She looked up in shock; "You will go to the human world and pass the other necessary reagents to the old fool."

Lilith stood for several more moments in shock as his command ran amok through her mind. "NOW WOMAN!" He snarled at her. Lilith quickly disappeared in silver rift leaving the two men, one towering over the other.

Anubis glanced down at his leader. "Is it truly wise to allow her to go to the human world?" He asked.

"Of course it is…" Jashin chuckled with insanity lacing his words. "She will alert the so-called, 'Jinchuuriki' of our plans, giving me the battle I have been waiting for, for centuries. He will train furiously to combat me, or risk his world crumbling beneath him.

"Just the battle I deserve…" He murmured to himself, eyes flashing silver with yellow flecks as he stared upon the carnage he wreaked upon the clan of demons foolish enough to oppose him. Some had escaped, but that mattered not to the deity as they would eventually challenge him in revenge.

_'Some 'Shinigami's pets' indeed…'_ He snorted derisively before disappearing in a black and red mist leaving Anubis to his own mechanisms – gleefully cleaning the evidence of the carnage, regardless of the tough bone structure of the wings and body of them.

* * *

**So how was it? I tried making both the fight and Anko's emotions believable by having her latch onto him for reasons that are explained throughout the chapter.**

**Tell me how you felt about the chapter, the fight between Naruto and Gaara and anything else you feel like commenting on. Also, check out my profile periodically to check on how the next chapter is progressing word-wise!**

**Have a good day and a good Memorial Day Weekend!**

**-KuyouFox**


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